Whisper on a Stream
by darkforest214
Summary: Um, well it’s Harry’s 6th year and some surprises await him, as well as the usual danger.
1. Default Chapter

**Title:** Whisper on a Stream (1/?)  
**Author name:** darkforest214  
**Category:** Drama, Angst  
**Spoilers:** Books 1 through 5  
**Rating: **PG  
**Summary:** Um, well it's Harry's 6th year and some surprises await him (as does danger).  
**Disclaimer:** This story is based on characters and situations created and owned by JK Rowling, various publishers including but not limited to Bloomsbury Books, Scholastic Books and Raincoast Books, and Warner Bros., Inc. No money is being made and no copyright or trademark infringement is intended. Aka... I own _nothing_ (except for a few characters...my little first years and a few others I won't mention just yet...)

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Chapter One  
Dead Man's Touch

Bitterness, sadness, anger and blame; It was only the second week of summer, and a short time after his Godfather's death, but Harry Potter was feeling all of these things as he lay in bed staring at the ceiling. Another dull day had lead to another sleepless night.

Harry wished there was a way to ease his pain; his guilt. He couldn't talk to his Aunt and Uncle about this, nor could he talk to his insensitive cousin. He had talked to his best friends, Hermione Granger and Ronald Weasley, but they didn't understand. Nobody did. The only person Harry could think of that would know what he was going through was gone. Only Sirius Black, the falsely accused mass murderer and Harry's Godfather would know. He had gone through the same thing when two of his best friends, and Harry's parents, had been murdered by the evil Lord Voldemort.

Harry had lost so much to the Dark Lord already. Why did he have to kill my parents almost sixteen years ago? Why did he try to kill me and fail? Why does he continue to try and kill me year after year? Why am I stuck at my muggle Aunt and Uncle's house? All these questions passed through his head, and he had discovered the answer to at least two of them. Professor Dumbledore, the Headmaster of Hogwarts, had answered two of those questions, but those answers only brought more questions and confusion. Harry didn't die because his mother had died trying to save him, her love was the reason he lived. He had to stay with his muggle relatives because of some protection they offered, although Harry was unsure of what. Dumbledore's answer was not clear.

Many horrible thoughts had been racing through his head since summer had started. At least when he was in school his mind was occupied with his school work. Now, all he could think of was his Godfather and when he would receive any new news from the wizarding world. So far, he had received nothing new, an occasional letter from Ron and Hermione, but that was it. Harry miserably rolled over onto his side and stared at Hedwig's empty cage. He hadn't seen his snowy owl for three days, but he wasn't worried. She liked to stay away from the Dursley's house as much as possible during the summer. After a while Harry managed to drift off into a restless sleep, reliving the night Sirius died in his dreams.

Harry was awakened early in the morning by a tapping and scratching sound on his window. He rolled over, grabbed his glasses and put them on. He looked at the clock, "Damn," he muttered, "Hedwig, its 4:30 in the morning!" he complained as he slowly rolled out of bed. "I'm coming! I'm coming!" he said as the tapping continued. He opened the window and moved out of the way just in time. A large barn owl flew in and landed on top of Hedwig's cage.

"You're not Hedwig!" Harry said, surprised at the appearance of such a large owl that he had never seen before. He moved away from the open window and took the letter from the owl and allowed him to drink from Hedwig's water dish. But instead of leaving he stayed, as if waiting for a return reply from Harry.

"I'm reading it. Can't you see?" Harry said irritably when the large owl let out a rather loud 'hoot'. "Keep quiet, or you'll wake the Dursleys."

Harry sat on the edge of his bed and read the letter, recognizing Hermione's neat handwriting right away:

_Dear Harry,_

_Sorry about the large owl, it was the only one available at the time. I've got some news! I'm sure you'll be hearing about it from Ron as well, but in case haven't heard already... Hogwarts is getting a foreign exchange student! She's coming from America, although Ron insists it'll be a he. We don't know yet, but we'll find out soon enough. I don't know who will be housing her this summer. She (or he) is coming in a week. Ron and I were going to try and meet her (or him) at the train station, but only if you can be there. Please let me know if you can come._

_Hermione_

_'An exchange student...that could be interesting,'_ Harry thought. He got up from the edge of his bed and went over to his desk, he pulled out a quill and a bit of parchment and wrote:

_Hey Hermione,_

_First of all...its 4:30 in the morning! I was asleep for once... Anyways, using the excuse of an exchange student to see you guys would be a great idea. But I don't really want to risk asking my Aunt and Uncle if I can come. Besides, I think they have plans (which don't include me of course). Let me know if you hear anything new._

_Harry_

He let the ink dry before rolling up the bit of parchment and tying it to the large owl's leg. With a quiet 'hoot' the owl flew out the window and into the night. Harry turned out the light and crawled back into bed. Unable to fall back asleep, Harry lay on his back and stared at the ceiling until he heard noises coming from the kitchen. Those noises were soon combined with smells of cooking breakfast and the sound of Dudley trying to get dressed.

"Dudley darling, breakfast is ready." Harry heard Aunt Petunia call out in a sweet voice. "HARRY GET DOWN HERE!" she added, only this time, her voice harsh and shrill.

Harry waited until he heard Dudley stomping down the stairs before leaving the "safety" of his room. He went down the stairs slowly, knowing that it would annoy his uncle and irritate his aunt.

"What took you so long, Boy?" Uncle Vernon asked loudly. "Don't just stand there, go fetch the mail," he demanded, not waiting for an answer. Harry went and collected the mail. Almost every morning of the last two weeks had started this way, why should this Monday be any different?

Looking through the letters, bills and an ad for a sale at a big department store, he noticed that one of the letters was postmarked from America. He was pondering it as he entered the kitchen. "Looking through our mail, Boy?" Uncle Vernon snapped, drawing Harry from his thoughts.

"No, I was just checking to see if I had any mail," Harry lied. Uncle Vernon glared at Harry as he snatched the mail out of his hands, all the mail except for one piece.

"Why would _you_ get any mail?" Dudley asked snobbishly.

"Because _I_ have friends that live with muggles and don't own an owl." Harry said plainly. He knew he'd get reactions from them, not only had he mentioned that he had friends, but he mentioned muggles and owls as well. Dudley's hand went unconsciously to his large bottom, Aunt Petunia clenched her teeth and pursed her lips, and Uncle Vernon's face started to turn purple. Harry smiled inwardly, their reactions were normal, but he still liked to make them nervous.

"Do not mutter that filthy word in my house." Uncle Vernon said through clenched teeth.

Harry gave a cynical smile, "What word? Muggles?" he said sarcastically, his smile grew, "or _magic_?"

Vernon was now a deep shade of purple from the tip of his balding head to the base of his thick neck. Harry knew he was about to explode. "HOW DARE YOU MENTION _THAT_ WORD IN MY PRESENCE!" he said breathing heavily. "GO TO YOUR ROOM," he shouted so suddenly that Dudley flinched.

"GLADLY!" Harry shouted back. He turned on his heels and heard his uncle shouting after him as he climbed the stairs. "DON'T USE THAT TONE OF VOICE WITH ME, BOY!" Harry slammed his door at the word 'boy'. Hedwig screeched loudly when Harry slammed the door, making Harry jump. He looked over to his desk and saw her resting on the top of her cage.

"I'm sorry, Hedwig. I didn't know you were back," he said as he crossed the room. She hooted quietly and stuck out her leg; Harry untied the letter and gently pet her head. She nibbled his fingers affectionately as he read the letter:

_Hey Harry,_

_Good news. Hogwarts is getting an exchange student! I'm hoping you're reading about this bit of news for the first time...that would mean I beat Hermione and told you first. He'll be coming in this coming weekend, we were thinking about going to meet him at the train station. Although I should probably convince mother to let us go first... Let me know if you can come._

_Ron_

Harry placed the letter on his desk after reading it and realized that he still held the piece of mail he was pondering over before being yelled at by his uncle. He was wondering if he should open it when his uncle burst into his room.

Uncle Vernon had come upstairs to remind Harry that anything magical was not to be mentioned in his household, but instead was stopped mid-thought when he saw Harry holding the unopened letter.

"Withholding my mail, Boy?" he said sternly

"No, not really," Harry said plainly. "The letter isn't addressed to you. It says, 'to the Residents of...'." Harry showed him the letter.

"Give me that!" said Uncle Vernon as he snatched it out of Harry's hand. He quickly tore open the letter and began reading it aloud without realizing it. "'Dear Mr. and Mrs. Dursley, I am pleased to inform you that your application to receive and house a foreign exchange student has been accepted.' Oh right, forgot about that thing," he muttered. Continuing, he read, "'The student's name is Olivia James and she will be arriving this Saturday at Kings Cross Station at 10 o'clock am. She will be bringing along with her, her pet cat­­–' oh great, another bloody animal. '–and will meet you at the station. She will only be staying with you for the remainder of the holiday, when her original host parents will be able to accept her into their home–" his voice drifted off as he read on. When he was done reading it he realized he was standing in the middle of Harry's bedroom and that Harry was looking at him strangely. "What are you looking at, Boy?" he said as he turned to leave the room. "Petunia!" Harry heard Uncle Vernon call out as he went down the stairs.

"Hedwig," Harry said, turning to his owl, "are you fit to send a letter to both Ron and Hermione?" Hedwig gave a low hoot as if to say yes and Harry sat down to write two copies of a letter.

_Ron, Hermione,_

_You said you didn't know where this exchange student was staying...I think I have an idea. Also you said you didn't know what her name was/ is it a boy or girl... I have an idea toward that too. My Aunt and Uncle received a letter from America saying that their application to house an exchange student had been accepted. She'll (yes, she) be arriving this Saturday at 10:00 AM. Her name is Olivia James, but that's all I know. Is this just a coincidence, or is this Hogwart's exchange student? Let me know what you think right away. Oh and if this is her, it would be best if you don't come to the train station...I wouldn't want my aunt and uncle to see you._

_Harry_

He attached the letters to Hedwig's leg and she flew out through his open window. Harry watched her until he couldn't see her any longer. He turned away from his window and decided that he would go and have a chat with his uncle to see if he could find out anymore information. As he came down the last few steps he could hear Dudley complaining loudly in the living room.

"But Mummy, I can't share a room with Harry!" Dudley whined in a somewhat scared voice.

"He could always sleep on the couch," Aunt Petunia said as she tried to comfort her spoiled son. "We certainly wouldn't want our guest to sleep on the couch," she added as an afterthought. Ever since they had moved Harry out of the cupboard under the stairs, they had begun to use it as storage.

Harry decided he'd walk in on the conversation; things would get interesting if he was present. "Yeah, you wouldn't want to stick a guest in the room of a wiz–"

"Don't say it!" Uncle Vernon said quickly, cutting Harry off.

"–ard," Harry finished as if his uncle hadn't said anything. "Just let her decide when she gets here," he said as he crossed the room and sat in a vacant chair near the boarded-up fireplace.

"What are you doing down here?" Dudley said meanly.

"I just wanted to know more about this person, that's all," Harry said innocently.

Uncle Vernon looked him over a few times, thinking about whether or not he should give up the little amount of information he knew. In the end he decided he would give up only a little bit of what he knew. "Well, she's sixteen, entering her sixth year, her name is Olivia and she has a cat," that's all he was willing to tell Harry.

"Is she pretty?" Dudley asked from his seat, where he was munching on some candy that had been placed in a dish on the coffee table.

"Dudley, my son, I'm not sure, there's no picture. But I'm sure she'll fall for you in a heartbeat," Harry's uncle replied in a tone that sickened Harry. Dudley smiled as he continued to greedily stuff his fat face with the candy. It sickened Harry to think that all Dudley cared about was if she looked good or not. But it also caused Harry to laugh silently at the thought of _any_ girl falling for his killer whale sized cousin.

Aunt Petunia stood up suddenly. "We've got a guest coming in less than a week! This house is a mess!"

"Sorry Petunia darling, I'd love to stay and help you clean but I'm late for work," Uncle Vernon said, looking at his watch. He gave his wife a kiss on the cheek and his son a pat on the head, "Be good Dudley," he said with a smile. "You..." he said glaring at Harry before turning and heading towards the door. Harry watched him leave in silence, he also watched as Dudley told his mother he was "going out to play" as she frantically started to clean the already dirt and mess free house.

Harry went up to his room in silence thinking, _only five more days of loneliness..._**

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Friday night had come, all day had been spent helping his aunt clean and Harry was exhausted, but he couldn't sleep. He paced around his room, his uncle's snoring could be heard and it kept interrupting Harry's thoughts. After every lap of his, now spotless room, he would pause and stick his head out his window and stare hard into the night trying to catch a glimpse of his white owl in the darkness. 10 pm had passed, Harry had stopped pacing but continued to stare at the open window and by 10:30 he was once more circling his room. He stopped at his window to stare out at the star filled, but otherwise empty skies. He thought he saw movement in the distance so he stared really hard and soon realized it was an owl, although it wasn't Hedwig. It flew closer to where Harry stood waiting.

As it got nearer Harry recognized it as the same large barn owl he had seen nearly five nights ago. He moved away from the window and the owl came through. "Hello, nice to see you again," Harry said politely with only a hint of sarcasm. The owl, remembering to be quiet hooted softly as Harry untied the letter form the owl's leg.

_Harry,_

_Are you serious? Her name is Olivia James? The letter I received from Dumbledore was all smudged. I could only read the last name and the first four letters of the first. So we didn't know it was Oliver or Olive (hey, it could happen). How are going to hide the fact that she's a wizard? What if she doesn't know how to act around muggles (like Ron, that clumsy oaf)?_

_Tell me about her after you meet her. I want to know details..._

_Hermione_

Harry folded up the letter and placed it on his desk. He let the barn owl drink from Hedwig's water dish before sending it on its way. "Sorry, no return reply today. Can you come back tomorrow evening?" said Harry. The owl gave a low hoot and took off through the open window.

Harry climbed into bed and tried to sleep. He was excited but also worried. _'A Hogwarts student is going to be staying here,'_ he thought with a smile, but that smile changed quickly, _'oh no, a Hogwarts student is staying here! If the muggles find out who she is there'll be the devil to pay,_' said one part of his mind, while another part answered, _'then pray that they don't.'_**

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"Harry! HARRY WAKE UP!" Uncle Vernon roared. Harry, awoken from a deep sleep slowly crawled out of bed and put on his glasses. He quickly got dressed and ran downstairs. He had to try hard not to laugh out loud at the site of their clothing. His aunt, uncle and cousin were all dressed in their "Sunday best." Their tacky clothing made Harry thankful that he had chosen on of the hand-knit sweaters from Mrs. Weasley, even if it had a large letter 'H' on it.

"You could have at least _tried_ to look decent," Dudley snarled.

"Oh, so you call _that_ decent?" Harry remarked sarcastically.

"Keep quiet Boy, or I might have a second thought about you coming along," Uncle Vernon hissed. Harry snapped his mouth shut, "There, that's better now, isn't it?" he said boastfully. "Remember what I've said?"

"Mention nothing about you-know-what, and at least try to act normal," Harry said with bitterness in his voice as he recited words his uncle had been saying all week.

"We don't want her to suspect _anything_," Aunt Petunia said as she lovingly adjusted Dudley's polka-dot bow tie.

"Best get in the car, we don't want to be late," Uncle Vernon said as he left the house through the front door. Everyone else followed and got into the car. Soon they were on their way to the train station.**

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They arrived at the station at a quarter to 10. The letter had said her train would be arriving at Platform 9. Harry was pondering whether or not he should try and enter Platform 9 ¾ when the train started to arrive.

"Good thing we arrived early," Uncle Vernon muttered.

Harry realized as the train slowly came to a stop that they wouldn't be able to recognize her, unless Uncle Vernon had withheld that information too. "Uncle Vernon," he dared to ask, "How are we to know who she is? What she looks like?"

"What does it matter to you?" Uncle Vernon said through clenched teeth. Harry realized that his uncle didn't know either. Uncle Vernon exchanged a nervous glance with Aunt Petunia while the ignorant Dudley continued to look on with anticipation. Harry rolled his eyes and began to look over the people as they stepped off the train.

_'To old, to young, way to young...is that a guy or a girl?'_ Harry thought to himself as he watched people step onto the platform. He then noticed a young girl, about his age, struggling to drag along a trunk and a cat carrier with a backpack upon her back and a smaller bag draped over her shoulder. Before he knew it, Harry left his uncle's side and was offering her help.

"Here, let me get that for you," Harry said as he took the cat carrier from her right hand.

"Careful he doesn't like strangers...or maybe not," she said, surprised that her cat wasn't hissing and trying to attack his helper. "Thanks, it was starting to slip," the girl said somewhat breathlessly. With her now free hand she brushed her curly hair out of her eyes and smiled. Holding out her hand she said, "Hello, I'm Olivia, once again thanks, I–"

"Harry! Harry, boy, leave her alone!" Uncle Vernon said harshly as he waddled over to them. His fat cousin and Aunt following close behind. Harry, who was in the process of shaking her hand, dropped it almost immediately. "We can't take you anywhere," his uncle muttered. "I'm so sorry Miss; our nephew is a bit disturbed."

Harry rolled his eyes, and the girl knew the man was lying. "It's no bother, really. I almost dropped my cat, it's a good thing he came along," she said. "If you'll excuse me I have to go and try to find my host family," she said in a voice that clearly belonged to an American.

"Maybe you don't," Harry muttered. She looked questioningly at him. "By the way, my name is Harry. You wouldn't happen to be looking for a family by the name of Dursley, would you?"

"Yes! Yes I am!" she said with a look of shock.

"Ah, you must be Miss Olivia James," Uncle Vernon said as if he had been the one to figure it all out in the first place. She nodded her head, "Welcome to England!" Uncle Vernon said graciously. "Harry, don't just stand there, gather up her trunk."

"No, really, I can manage," Olivia said once more brushing her hair out of her face.

"It's not a problem," Harry said as he took her trunk. She smiled at him and he thought he felt his face flush. Dudley was speechless, as luck would have it, she was pretty. Although travel worn she still managed to look good. Harry smiled when he saw she was wearing a red sweater, which made him think of Hogwarts and the wonderful people of the Gryffindor house. Uncle Vernon had begun to lead the way out towards the car, motioning for the others to follow.

As Olivia passed the speechless Dudley she flicked his tie, "Nice bow tie," she said. Dudley was too thick to notice the sarcasm in her voice.

Dudley grinned and turned to Harry, "She liked my tie," he said proudly. "She didn't compliment you, but she liked my tie." Harry rolled his eyes and Dudley gave a smug smile and waddled as fast as he could to catch up with her. _'I feel bad for her, poor love struck Dudley won't leave her alone. Imagine the look on Dudley's face if he found out she was a witch.'_ Harry thought.

He looked down at her trunk instead of her initials being engraved on her trunk there where two symbols instead. He looked back up and noticed she wasn't walking with his large cousin anymore. _'Where'd she go?'_

As if answering his thoughts she spoke, "Had to get away from that cousin of yours. He's dreadfully boring." Harry was surprised to see her walking next to him. "I told him I wanted to check on my cat, but really it's you I want to see."

Harry new for sure that his face had just turned several shades darker. "Don't mention anything about magic, okay?" he said seriously.

"How'd...how did you know?" she asked slightly shocked.

"The Headmaster of Hogwarts told my friend, she told me... Just promise me Olivia, you won't mention anything about magic around _them_." Harry said seriously.

"I promise," she said quietly, looking him straight in the eye. Harry found himself staring into her green eyes and knew she would not break that promise. They had both stopped walking and stood eye-to-eye. They came around when Dudley had called out to her. "Please, call me Liv," she whispered before breaking eye contact and moving to catch up with Dudley.


	2. Chapter 2

**Title:** Whisper on a Stream (2/?)  
**Author name:** darkforest214  
**Category: **Drama, Angst  
**Spoilers: **Books 1 through 5  
**Rating: **PG  
**Summary: **Um, well it's Harry's 6th year and some surprises await him (as does danger).  
**Disclaimer: **This story is based on characters and situations created and owned by JK Rowling, various publishers including but not limited to Bloomsbury Books, Scholastic Books and Raincoast Books, and Warner Bros., Inc. No money is being made and no copyright or trademark infringement is intended. Aka... I own _nothing_ (except for a few characters...my little first years and few others I won't mention just yet...)**

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Chapter 2

"I want you to sit in the middle, Harry, you're the smallest," Uncle Vernon said as they neared the car. He unlocked the trunk and took Olivia's cat carrier from Harry. He was about to place it in the trunk when she spoke up.

"Please, I don't think he wants to ride in the trunk," Olivia said as she snatched the carrier from Uncle Vernon's grasp.

"There will be no room for it in the car," Uncle Vernon replied trying to hide the irritation in his voice.

"Nonsense, he'll ride on my lap," she said as she set the carrier down and opened the door. An all black cat crawled out, stretched and flexed his claws. He looked around and walked right up to Harry and rubbed his face against Harry's leg. "Go on, Harry, he wants you to pet him. Which is kind of unusual, he doesn't really like strangers." Olivia said with a smile. Harry nodded his head and got down on one knee to pet him.

"What's his name?" Harry asked as he scratched between the purring cat's ears. For some reason when she spoke to him, Harry felt as if they were the only tow in the world. She knelt down next to him to pet her cat.

Playing with the cat's tale, she spoke softly, "His name is Marty." She stood back up and took her backpack of and handed it to Uncle Vernon. When he offered to take her shoulder bag as well, she refused and said she'd keep it with her. Dudley, who was getting jealous of the attention Olivia was giving Harry shoved him out of the way and roughly tried to pet Marty. Marty hissed, arched his back and almost struck Dudley with his claws.

"Dudley, don't!" Olivia said loudly, "He doesn't like strangers," she explained in a more gentle tone. Dudley quickly moved away from the snarling cat. "Cut it out Marty," she said sharply, but Harry saw her smiling at the cat and thought he heard her say, "Good boy, you keep being mean to him."

Everything's loaded, let's get going," Uncle Vernon said. Dudley had already retreated to the safety of the car after being hissed at and Aunt Petunia was sitting up front in the passenger's seat. Uncle Vernon had told Harry to sit in the middle, but that would be hard; Dudley's bulk not only took up all of his seat but the middle seat as well.

"Good thing we're both skinny," Harry muttered to Olivia before climbing into the car. She smiled and decided to take that as a complement.

"How long do you think it'll take to arrive at your house?" she asked nonchalantly.

"A bit excited are we?" Uncle Vernon attempted to joke. "Not to worry, we'll arrive home soon enough."

"How are you feeling? Your travels must have been long..." Aunt Petunia said, trying to sound concerned.

"I'm a tad hungry, I feel disgusting and would do anything for a shower, and if it wasn't for the fact that I feel, well, icky, I'd be in a deep sleep right about now," Olivia said with a half-hearted smile.

"Well then, we'll be sure to feed you as soon as possible, you can take a shower and sleep as long as you want," Aunt Petunia said nicely, trying to fill the role of "perfect hostess."

"You'll be staying in Harry's room," Uncle Vernon said, hoping to upset Harry, but Harry had decided to remain quiet and see how this would play out.

"Oh no, I couldn't put him out of his room. Where would he sleep? On the couch? I insist that he keeps his room, I'll take the couch," she said, although she hoped she wouldn't have to sleep in the living room.

"I won't have a guest sleep on that couch, it's too uncomfortable," Uncle Vernon said sternly.

"Yet you'd have me sleep on it?" Harry asked sarcastically.

"Quiet boy, this doesn't concern you."

"Oh, but it does, it's his room you're talking about giving away to a total stranger," Liv said, sticking up for Harry. "I have an idea that will make everyone happy," she said seriously. She wanted to spend more time alone with Harry and the best way to do that would be to share his room with him, she didn't know to many wizards her age back home so she'd have to choose her words carefully. "Harry keeps his room, making him happy. I'll take the bed, making Mrs. Dursley happy."

"You can call me Aunt Petunia," she interrupted.

"Harry sleeps on the floor making him uncomfortable but at the same time making Mr. Dursley happy," she continued as if Aunt Petunia hadn't said anything.

"I'll consider it, I'll have to have a private talk with Harry as well. Oh, and you can call me Uncle Vernon," he replied after being nudged by his wife.

Harry looked to Liv in amazement, how was she able to convince them? Harry knew what his uncle would have to say to him, but it didn't matter, she had magical powers too.

**

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The car pulled in the driveway around noon, other than a little bit of traffic the rest of the trip had been uneventful.

"Why don't I make lunch while you get cleaned up," Aunt Petunia said as they all climbed out of the car.

"That sounds great," Liv said with a smile.

"Harry, take Olivia's luggage upstairs and show her to her room, also show her where the bathroom is located," Uncle Vernon said as he unloaded the car. Liv picked up her shoulder bag, put her backpack on her back and grabbed the empty cat carrier. Dudley had followed his mother into the kitchen in hopes of sneaking some extra food even though he was still on a (failing) diet.

"Uh...follow me then," Harry said as he half dragged, half carried Liv's trunk inside.

"C'mon Marty, lets go inside," she said as she followed Harry. The cat followed Liv playfully batting at her heels as they went.

"Well...uh...this is my room. Oh, wait, how does your cat act around birds?" Harry asked, casting a nervous glance towards Hedwig.

"Don't worry, he won't attack your owl, he wouldn't attack his own kind unless he was in danger," Liv said as she set the empty cat carrier on the floor next to Harry's desk.

"What?" But before the words were out of Harry's mouth, Marty transformed from a black cat into a black owl. "How did he–?"

"He's not an ordinary cat," Liv said plainly. Noticing Harry was still confused she decided to explain further. "He's magical, when I said he didn't like strangers earlier, well that's only partly true. I'm guessing he had no problem with you 0because you're a wizard. Am I right?"

"Yes," Harry said, nodding his head.

"The only non-magical folk he gets along with are my father and little sister. He tolerates them, but he's great with my twin brother, my mother and me. Now maybe you could clear up a question I have of my own. How did you know I'm a witch?" she asked, looking at him curiously. Marty had changed back into a cat and was once more rubbing up against Harry's legs. "He must miss Tyler," she muttered.

"Who?" said Harry.

"My twin brother," she answered. "Don't worry Marty, you'll see him at the end of the summer, he'll be going to Hogwarts too," she said soothingly to her cat. "But that doesn't answer my question..."

"HARRY, WE NEED TO TALK," Uncle Vernon's voice drifted up the stairs. Harry realized he hadn't shown her the bathroom yet. He ran down the hall indicating where the bathroom was before disappearing down the stairs.

"Yes, Uncle Vernon?" he said. He'd have to be careful, he wouldn't want to upset his uncle this time.

"Try and act like a normal human being while she's here. Don't speak to her unless she asks you a question you can answer with out revealing what you are. And what ever you do, don't mention mm- mmaa-"

"Magic?"

"Exactly, now have I made myself clear?" said Uncle Vernon.

"Crystal," Harry replied. Imagining his uncle's face if he knew he'd already broken these "rules," Harry went back upstairs. He hadn't answered Liv's question and he still had a few of his own as well. But when he got to his room she was gone and he could hear the water running in the bathroom.

Harry decided to use this time to write that detailed letter to Hermione about their guest:

_Hey Hermione,_

_Here's what she's like in as much detail as possible, considering I just met her... She's our age, (well I'll be the same age as her in a few weeks). She's tall I guess, about the same height as me, but not as tall as Ron. Um...she has curly hair, and glasses... Hermione, I really don't know what you want to know about her. Let me know what you want to know and I'll try and answer you better...._

_Harry_

"Sorry Hedwig, I know you're tired, but can you deliver this to Hermione? You don't have to hurry or anything," Harry said as he pet her head. She nibbled his fingers affectionately and Harry, taking that as a yes, tied the letter to her leg. "Why don't you stay and rest at Hermione's for a day or two, unless it's urgent." Hedwig gave a hoot and took off through the open window as Harry and Marty watched.

Harry sat on the floor and leaned back against his bed. He tipped back his head and closed his eyes. Listening, he heard the water running from the bathroom, and from downstairs he could hear Dudley complaining about being hungry, the only sound coming from his room was sound of Marty moving around on Harry's bed. Harry opened his eyes as Marty let out a soft "mew" and started playing with Harry's wild, jet-black hair. Harry laughed and shook his head, Marty was nearly jumping on his head when Liv came in.

"He likes you," she said laughing.

"Both Marty and Harry were startled at the sound of her voice; Marty had fallen off Harry's head and landed in his lap. Harry tickled Marty's chin, "We were just playin' around..."

"That's ok," she said with a smile as she crossed the room and sat down on the floor next to Harry. She looked and felt better now that she had taken a shower. She wore a dark red, long sleeved shirt with two white stripes that ran down the sleeves. She also wore a pair of dark gray/faded black jeans. She pushed up her sleeves and grabbed for Marty. "Come here Marty. Where you giving Harry a hard time?" she said with a laugh. Harry noticed the black, woven leather bracelet on her right wrist as she played with Marty.

"The Headmaster of Hogwarts told my friend, she told me, my uncle received a letter about housing a student and I put two and two together," Harry said.

"What?" Liv said distractedly, she stopped playing with her cat to look at Harry. Marty crawled over and curled up on Harry's lap.

"To answer your earlier question," said Harry looking down at Marty.

"Oh, right, I guess I forgot. Will I get to meet this friend of yours?" Liv asked curiously.

"Which one?" Harry said, Liv gave him a questioning look, "Never mind, you'll get to meet both of them."

"Tell me about your friends, they've got to be more interesting than any Dudley might have," she said rolling her eyes.

"My two best friends are Hermione and Ron. We do everything together, and for some reason we seem to get into a lot of trouble too. Hermione is the brains of the group, without her, Ron and I would most likely be dead," he said with a shrug of his shoulders, as if death meant very little to him. "I can tell everything to Ron, and I usually do, he's got a great sense of humor. I'd say he was the comical relief of the group, but that would be wrong. His brothers have that covered. Fred and George, they're twins, they are the most mischievous people I've ever met."

"Identical twins?" Liv asked, she was interested in twins because she herself was one. She was about to ask more, but they were called down for lunch.

"Yeah, they're identical down to a freckle...it's so hard to tell them apart," Harry said as they both came down the stairs.

**

* * *

**

During lunch Dudley told everyone stories of his bravery. Mostly they were stories of saving little kids from big, mean bullies. Olivia knew he was lying because she kept seeing Harry roll his eyes. Harry recognized some of the stories to be about himself, although he was beat up by Dudley and his gang, not rescued by them...

"That was good, thank you Mrs. Dur– I mean, Aunt Petunia," Olivia said after she had finished, she had interrupted another one of Dudley's stories but he didn't seem to notice.

"Harry, you do the dishes," Uncle Vernon ordered.

"Mummy, can I go meet with some of my friends at the park?" Dudley asked.

"I don't see why not," his doting mother answered sweetly. Dudley got up and left the table to go hang out with his friends. "Harry, why aren't you clearing the table?" she snapped. She left the table and went into the living room closely followed by Uncle Vernon, Olivia was the only one left at the table.

"Sorry," Harry muttered as he stood up. He started collecting their plates when Olivia offered her help.

"Let me help you with that Harry," Liv said as she started collecting silverware.

"No, you're a guest, you don't need to do any work," Uncle Vernon insisted a little too loudly.

"I shouldn't be treated as one though, I'm going to be here for a while and I'm willing to help out," she said. Harry kept his head down and his mouth shut, he was going to stay out of this argument if it was the last thing he did. "Besides, Harry shouldn't have to do all this work alone," she said smiling at Harry. Harry looked up at her, he was a bit nervous about what would come out of his uncle's mouth now that he had been dragged into things.

"I thought you were tired and going to sleep after lunch?" said Aunt Petunia.

"Yeah, I am, but I want to try and stay awake and go to bed tonight. I've got to get use to the time change somehow... Besides, it'll help me keep awake if I'm busy." Uncle Vernon finally agreed by getting up from his chair and going to the living room, Aunt Petunia following close behind.

"That was close you know," Harry said quietly.

"I didn't think they'd get so upset because I offered to help," Liv replied.

"I don't think they want us talking to each other; finding out stuff–"

"–Becoming friends," Liv finished for him.

"Yeah, becoming friends," Harry muttered.

They worked in silence for a minute or so before Liv spoke up again. "Harry? What's your school like," she said. "Don't tell me the truth in here..." she whispered, looking over her shoulder toward the door leading toward the living room.

"The school is, well, it's a school," Harry said. Whispering to her he said, "It's absolutely amazing, you'll love it."

"What about your teachers? Who's your favorite out of all that you've ever had?" she asked. "You can lie about the subject, but not the name..." she whispered.

"Definitely Professor Lupin, although he doesn't teach anymore," he answered, "I had him my third year, we actually learned something in that class."

"Hardest class?" Liv asked.

"Uh...I'd have to say science," he said after a pause. "The potion master hates me," he whispered.

"My least favorite class at home was science too. My teacher was awful; we use to call her Mt. Durst. She was a huge, big fat – Dudley!" she interrupted herself when she turned around and saw his bulk blocking the doorway. Harry nearly lost it, he covered his face with a dish towel to try and hide his laughter.

"Go on, finish your sentence," Dudley said somewhat sternly. He didn't like it when people made fun of other people's weight.

"–bird lover," she said thinking quickly. Dudley was doubting her answer until she smiled at him sweetly. "She was really tough, she would give us these bird quizzes each week. Dreadful class, just dreadful." She exchanged a questioning look with Harry, they both thought Dudley had gone to the park.

"I thought you left," Harry said glaring at Dudley.

"I did," he said with a shrug of his large shoulders.

"Why are you back?" Harry said flatly.

"I was thirsty, and I'm allowed to be in my own house," Dudley said laying emphasis on "my house." He pulled a can of soda out of the fridge and opened it, he chugged the entire thing and crumpled the empty can in his large hand. Harry rolled his eyes. Dudley was showing off, even though he couldn't tell that Olivia wasn't impressed.

"You've had your drink, you can go," Harry said sternly.

"No, I think I'll stick around," Dudley was becoming braver knowing that Harry wasn't allowed to even mention magic. "Go ahead, continue your little conversation," he said snobbishly.

"I...I don't remember what we were talking about," Liv stammered slightly, she blushed and turned her back on Dudley. "What are we going to do?" she mouth soundlessly to Harry. He shrugged his shoulder slightly and picked up a glass and began drying it.

"Go on, continue," He goaded again.

"Dudley, just get out," Harry muttered, sounding slightly angry.

"Or what? You can't do anything to me," Dudley said, an evil grin on his face.

"No, but I can," Liv said quietly.

"What?!" both Dudley and Harry said at once. Dudley was stupidly surprised, while Harry was worried she'd give herself away. She stood there, a cynical grin on her face, a few seconds later Marty came running into the room and ran straight toward Dudley. Dudley turned and ran out of the room no sooner had Marty entered hissing and arching his back.

"Did that seem like a coincidence?" Liv asked, a nervous look on her face as she picked up the crushed can Dudley had dropped and threw it away.

"From his point of view, yes," Harry answered.

"Good, I thought it to soon to reveal what I am," she said quietly. They worked in silence until curiosity got the best of Harry.

"Did you call Marty magically?" he asked quietly. She smiled and nodded her head. "We're not allowed to do magic outside of school, until we're eighteen," Harry said plainly. "The Dursleys know that, they also know that if I break that rule again I will be expelled from Hogwarts."

"Really? I'm allowed at home, we're allowed at the age of 16, I've been able to use it out of school for almost six months," she said as she handed the last, freshly washed plate to Harry so he could dry it.

"Done," Harry said as he placed the plate in the cupboard. "What do you want to do now?"

"Let's go up to your room and talk, I'm very interested in your school and friends," Liv said.

"Sure, what do you want to know?" He asked as the two left the kitchen and headed upstairs. They sat on his bed and he told her about his teachers and the classes and about the school itself. He told her about Hermione and Ron, as well as the rest of Ron's family. They sat there and talked about Hogwarts until dinner.

**

* * *

**

After dinner the two did the dishes again, only this time Uncle Vernon didn't protest. Once the dishes were cleaned and put away Harry asked Liv if she wanted to go for a walk.

"Sure, I'd love to, could we go to the park you mentioned earlier?" she replied.

"Yeah, it's not far from here, and we'll be able to talk without worrying about my Aunt or Uncle walking in," Harry said. "Hold on, let me just go and get my wand. I don't like to leave the house without it. Usually I carry it around with me, but that's when I'm not hanging out with a muggle," he joked. Liv smiled as she watched him disappear up the stairs.

"Do you want Marty to come along, in case we run into Dudley and his gang at the park?" Harry asked when he came back downstairs.

"No, I've got other defense systems," she said with a smile. "Marty is just my little attack cat."

"If Marty's your attack plan then what's your defense?" Harry asked curiously. Olivia had many questions about Harry and his life, while Harry had many questions about her.

"I'll show you later," she said with a sly smile. She walked out through the front door and the confused Harry followed after her. They walked to the park in silence. Harry led her to the swings where they sat down and continued to talk.

"Harry, something terrible happened to you. You have a pained look in your eyes ever time you talk about Professor Lupin. Did something happen to you that has given you...I don't know what to call it...darkness?" Liv asked quietly.

"In a way, yes. Professor Lupin is all right, it's just that when I think about him...he reminds me of my parents, and," he hesitated, struggling with his emotions, "and my godfather."

I'm sorry Harry, I didn't mean to bring up such an emotional topic," Liv said, a concerned look on her face.

"No, it's all right, it helps to talk about it...I guess," Harry said as he stared at his feet and kicked at the dirt under the swing.

"Do you mind my asking, what happened to them?"

"My parents were killed when I was just a baby, that's why I was brought here to live with my Aunt and Uncle. My father, James, was best friends with Lupin, and my godfather, Sirius Black...and...and also the man who betrayed my parents. The four of them were inseparable during their Hogwarts years. Even after they graduated and mom and dad got married they continued to have a close relationship. When my father and Sirius discovered that Lupin was a werewolf, they devised a plan to become Animagi. They were mischief makers, like Fred and George. But once out of Hogwarts life grew harder for them. The Order of the Phoenix, Dumbledore's followers and the defenders of good, did their best to defeat the Evil Lord Voldemort, but they couldn't stop him. No one could. My father couldn't keep him from my mother, and she couldn't keep him from me," Harry's voice had become so quiet that Liv had to lean closer to hear. He looked up at her and she could see the bitterness and anger in his eyes. "Not a single fully trained wizard could stop Voldemort, but somehow, I did," he said, his voice growing louder with anger. "A defenseless little baby stopped the most evil wizard of all time," he nearly shouted. Startled Liv shrank away from him, remaining quiet not knowing what to say.

"My godfather was lost to the world a few months ago," Harry said, speaking quietly once more. "He died trying to save me," his voice was full of bitterness, his shadowed eyes staring into the growing darkness. "His Animagus form was a dog," Harry continued to speak as if no one was around, "a big, black, shaggy dog. He looked like a grim. I first saw him not to far from here nearly three years ago." Harry stood up and walked away from the swings, Liv got up and quietly followed him, and she placed a hand on his shoulder. He turned to face her and she saw a tear fall from his eye and slide down his cheek. "After I got out of school I was to live with him, we were supposed to spend all our time together. He was the father I never had, and to him, I was the best friend he had lost. I was hoping he would to teach me how to become an Animagus." Harry's voice trailed off.

"I...I could teach you," Liv said quietly, still not knowing what to say that could comfort him.

Harry looked into her eyes remembering she was there, "What?"

"I could teach you how to be an Animagus," Liv repeated, "It's not much of a comfort, but...I'm an Animagi."

"You are?" he said staring at her blankly. She smiled and nodded, Harry then realized it was getting late when he noticed he could barely see her. "Maybe we should head back."

"Yeah, maybe we should," said Olivia.

"How long have you–?"

"My brother and I taught ourselves...unregistered of course, so don't tell too many people okay?" Harry nodded his head and she continued. "I've been able to successfully transform for almost a year and a half." Anticipating his next question she said, "My form is a Shetland sheepdog. I'll show you once we're back in your room." Harry nodded and the two walked back to Number 4 Privet Drive in silence.


	3. Chapter 3

**Title:** Whisper on a Stream (3/?)  
**Author name:** darkforest214  
**Category: **Drama, Angst  
**Spoilers: **Books 1 through 5  
**Rating: **PG  
**Summary:** Um, well it's Harry's 6th year and some surprises await him (as does danger).  
**Disclaimer: **This story is based on characters and situations created and owned by JK Rowling, various publishers including but not limited to Bloomsbury Books, Scholastic Books and Raincoast Books, and Warner Bros., Inc. No money is being made and no copyright or trademark infringement is intended. Aka... I own _nothing_ (except for a few characters...my little first years and few others I won't mention just yet...)

* * *

Chapter 3

Back in Harry's room the two were getting ready for bed. Harry was trying to make his spot on the floor as comfortable as possible when Uncle Vernon came in to check on them.

"I presume everything is all right?" he asked as he stood in the doorway. Marty's fur was sticking up, his back arched as he held back a hiss.

"Yes Uncle Vernon, everything's just peachy," Harry mumbled sarcastically from the floor.

"Everything is fine, Mr. Dursley," Olivia said as she crawled into bed. Uncle Vernon glared at Harry for a moment before turning to leave. Once he was gone and the door was closed behind him Olivia took out her wand and pointed toward the door. A small stream of gray light left the tip of her wand and wrapped around the key hole. Harry heard the door lock with a click, "That should keep them out," Liv said quietly.

"But it won't, Uncle Vernon has the key," said Harry.

"This key?" Olivia said as she reached into the pocket of her pajama pants and pulled out a little brass key.

"How did you–?"

"Magic, of course," she said with the shrug of her shoulders. Harry laughed, he wasn't use to having another witch or wizard around during the summer. She crawled out from under the covers and to the foot of the bed, lying flat on her stomach and sticking her head over the edge she looked down on Harry. He was lying on his back staring at the ceiling as usual when his view of the ceiling was cut off by Liv's head.

"Hi," Harry said.

"Hello," she replied with a smile. "I never did show you my Animagus form..."

"You can show me tomorrow, if you want," said Harry, although he was interested in seeing it sooner. "Or you can show it to me now." He laughed when her face had been replaced by that of a dog. Harry sat up to get a better view, but the dog had jumped down off the bed and landed lightly on the floor next to Harry.

Olivia was right; her Animagus form was a Shetland sheepdog. "You look exactly like a miniature collie," said Harry.

"Exactly," Liv said. Once more she was herself and sitting on her knees on the blankets next to Harry. "It's amazing that someone with curly hair can turn into an animal with long straight hair...I'm jealous of myself," she said with a laugh. She returned to her dog form, Harry felt odd about staring into the eyes of a dog where moments before there had been a person.

Harry scratched Liv between the ears and she licked his hand before jumping back into the bed. She snuggled back into the covers and laid her doggy head on the pillow before transforming once more into a human.

"Goodnight, Harry," she said as she turned off the light and set her glasses on the nightstand.

"Goodnight, Liv," he muttered. He rolled over and for the first time in weeks he was able to fall asleep.

**

* * *

**

Morning came and Harry and Liv were both still asleep, so lost in their dreams that they didn't notice the frantic voices outside their door. Uncle Vernon had come to check on them when they didn't come when called for breakfast.

"Just use your key," Aunt Petunia said.

"I told you, I don't have it. It's gone!" Uncle Vernon shouted, waking up Harry. Slowly Harry crawled out of the blankets on the floor.

"Open up, Boy! Open the bloody door!" Uncle Vernon shouted.

"Hey, Liv. Liv!" Harry whispered shaking her shoulder slightly, "Liv wake up."

"What Harry? What is it?" she mumbled as she tried to sink further into the bed.

"Can you unlock the door?"

"What? Oh...right..._Alohamora_," she muttered. Uncle Vernon nearly fell into the room. His face purple, his mustache bristling and his fists clenched in anger.

"What's going on in here?" he said loudly.

"Would you mind keeping your voice down, Olivia's trying to sleep," Harry said quietly, his voice full of irritation. "She had a long flight, remember? And for once I was actually asleep."

I don't care if you were asleep, your door was locked. How did you get the key? I want it back, boy." Uncle Vernon said.

"The door wasn't locked, it was just jammed," Harry said convincingly, "and I don't have your key. You probably lost it," he said sharply. Turning his back on his uncle he knelt down next to the blankets, crawled back in and pulled them up over his head. "Can you close the door on your way out?"

Uncle Vernon turned so purple his face looked like a fat grape, his mustache quivered as harsh words entered his mouth.

"Why you ungrateful little–"

"Ungrateful little, what?" Harry said cutting off his uncle, daring him to call him a wizard or freak. But his uncle turned on his heels and left the room, slamming the door hard behind him. Liv nearly jumped out of bed with shock when the door slammed.

"Now you've gone and done it! She's awake!" Harry yelled to the closed door. He could hear Uncle Vernon raging on about how terrible and disrespectful Harry was from in the kitchen.

"What was that all about?" Liv asked as she stared blandly around the room.

"Nothing really, Uncle Vernon gets irritated really easily."

"Gee, I wonder why?" she said dryly. She laid down to try and fall back asleep but after a minute or two she gave up with a sigh as she rolled over and grabbed her glasses.

"Only 10 AM? That's way to early to be getting out of bed!" she moaned as she crawled out of the covers and down to the foot of the bed. Resting her chin on the edge she looked down at Harry. "Care to tell me another one of your stories?" she said with a smile.

"I could tell you about my first year at Hogwarts, when Voldemort tried to kill me, or about my second year, when Voldemort tried to kill me. Or maybe about–"

"Didn't you say he tried to kill you last year?" Liv interrupted.

"Yeah."

"What year _didn't_ he try and kill you?" Liv said somewhat sarcastically.

"Every year except my third," Harry said plainly.

"Who tried to kill you that year?" Liv joked.

"I thought a mass murder was, but that was before I found out that he was my godfather."

"Seriously?! I was joking!" Liv said slightly shocked. Harry nodded his head, "Why don't you start from the beginning, your first year, and work your way up."

"Okay, if you want, although I'm not that great of a story teller," Harry said.

"That's okay, I don't care...I just find your past fascinating," said Liv smiling.

"Well, it all started when..."

**

* * *

**

Harry had just finished telling Liv about his third year when Dudley entered the room. "Mum and Dad wanted me to check in on you, make sure you're still alive. Although," he muttered while glaring at Harry, "I don't see why they'd be worried about _you_."

"We're fine, get out Dudley," Harry muttered.

Dudley turned to go, "Oh, and if you don't come to lunch I get your share," he said with a smile.

"Fine, we'll be there," Harry said as he threw off the covers, stood up and stretched.

"To late," Dudley said with a grin, "we already ate." Harry glared at Dudley as he left the room laughing.

"And I had just realized how hungry I was," Harry groaned as he crossed the room and shut the door.

"Don't worry, I've got it covered," Liv said with a smile as she reached toward the head of the bed and pulled her wand out from underneath the pillow. "What are you hungry for?"

"Anything really, I don't mind," Harry said as he sat down on the bed next to Liv.

"Pizza it is then," she said with a smile. With the flick of her wrist a large pizza (in the box) appeared, she flicked her wand again and a bag of potato chips appeared too.

"What do you want to drink?" she asked.

"Uh...what can you conjure?" Harry asked as he took a slice of pizza from the box.

"How does Butterbeer sound?"

"I haven't had any since the last Hogsmeade trip," Harry said, his mouth watered slightly as he remembered the taste of that wonderful beverage. Another flick of her wrist brought two mugs of Butterbeer.

The two managed to eat the entire pizza, with the help of Marty who ate a slice. Olivia had just made the remains of their lunch disappear when a gray owl flew in through the open window. Harry crossed the room and took the letter, recognizing the Ministry's seal.

"Oh no," Harry moaned "it's from the Ministry of Magic." He hesitated to open it, fearful of the news it would bring.

"Ministry of Magic? What would they want?" Liv asked curiously as she moved to stand next to Harry and read over his shoulder.

Staring at the envelope he slowly broke the seal and took out the enclosed letter. "The ministry wants me to stop using magic in front of a muggle or I'll be expelled." He looked up at Liv, "They don't know you're a witch!"

"Or the one doing all the magic. Did Professor Dumbledore not tell them?" Liv said.

"I don't know," Harry said. Just then another owl flew in through the window and landed next to the first. Liv untied the letter and handed it to Harry. Harry recognized the crisp, green lettering on the envelope. "This one must be from Dumbledore."

"Last time I got a letter from him it was telling me I'd been accepted to Hogwarts and housing for the summer would be arranged," Olivia muttered.

"'Don't worry Harry,'" Harry read, "'I know it wasn't you that used magic. I'll explain to the ministry about Ms. James. Please let her know that until this is cleared up that she should use magic.' So Dumbledore is taking care of things." Harry set the two letters on the desk. "At least I wasn't expelled."

"I'm sorry Harry, I never realized you would get in trouble because I used magic," said Liv.

"That's okay, don't worry about it. I didn't think I'd get in trouble either," said Harry. "Oh what now?" he said when another owl flew in and landed next to the other two. Harry recognized it as the large barn owl Hermione had been using lately. Marty meowed and looked longingly out the window before crawling under the bed to sulk in the dark.

"Who's that from?" Olivia asked curiously.

"I'm not sure, I think it might be from my friend Hermione," Harry said as he unrolled the piece of parchment. It was from Hermione. He read it silently to himself:

_Harry, you're such a guy!_

Harry could detect the sarcasm as he read.

_I sent Hedwig to rest at Ron's house for a while, she looked really tired. Use my owl to send your response...I've got some questions and I'm sure you have the answers. Oh, and I've got some more good news, but I'm not going to tell you until my questions are answered!_

_Hermione_

Harry couldn't help but think she was crazy. He took up the other piece of parchment and saw a list of questions. "Hermione, you have gone crazy," he said out loud.

"So it is from your friend Hermione," Liv said. She was lying on the floor trying to lure Marty out. Harry looked over his shoulder n time to see her dog form's tail disappear under the bed.

"Yeah, it's from her, she sent me a questionnaire, she wants to know more about you," Harry said laughing slightly. The dog's head reappeared as she crawled out from under the bed. Liv walked over to the desk and stood up on her hind legs, resting her front paws on the desk, all the while wagging her tail.

"Want to fill it out together?" Harry asked.

"Um, sure we could at least look at some of the questions...," she answered as she reappeared in human form at his side. "What's the first one?"

"Uh... 'What does she look like?'"

"Boring...next question."

"Is that your answer?!" Harry said slightly taken aback.

"No, I just want to know what some of the questions are," Liv said innocently.

"Oh, okay. Let's see... 'What is her personality like?'" Harry read.

"I have a personality?! Shocker!" Liv said.

"I could always put down 'sarcastic as hell'" Harry prompted. Liv laughed and urged him to continue.

"Next one... 'Is she smart, or is she a slacker like you and Ron?' Oh, that was nice of you Hermione," He said sarcastically while rolling his eyes. "Here's a more personal question... 'What about family. Does she have any magical relatives or does she come from an all muggle family (like me)?' What about your family? You haven't really mentioned them," He looked up from the letter at Liv.

"My dad is a muggle, and my little sister hasn't shown any signs of having magic. My mom, my twin brother and I are the magic users of the family. Although surprisingly my dad doesn't know!" Liv said.

"The next question is 'Does she have any brothers and/or sisters? And if so what is his name?' I could always tell Hermione that you have a twin..." Harry said.

"That might scare her...if she knew there were two of us," Liv said jokingly.

"Whatever, next question... 'What kind of wand does she have?'" Harry looked up at Liv, "Why the hell would she want to know about your wand?"

"Who knows. You could always tell her that I went outside one day and picked a branch off a tree and call it a wand," said Liv shrugging her shoulders.

Harry laughed, "She won't tell me her good news if I don't tell her the truth."

Liv smiled, "Don't worry about it. I think I know the good news already."

"What do you mean?"

"Is her next question about my family?" she asked.

Harry looked down and read it, "Yes, but I don't see what that has to do with–"

"Does Hermione have muggle parents?" Liv interrupted.

"Yes but–"

"Look back at that one question about muggle relatives," Liv said. Harry looked for the question and read it. _'Does she have any magical relatives or is she from a muggle family (like me)?'_

"That question about my siblings. You read, 'his name,' right?" Liv said.

"Yeah–'

"She must know about Ty!" Liv said.

"Huh?"

"My brother is coming to Hogwarts this year too, if I'm staying in a house with only one wizard, chances are, so is he. What's Hermione's last name?" Liv asked as she moved to her trunk and knelt down beside it.

"Granger, but– Wait, why?" Harry asked as she rummaged through her trunk. Marty had come out of hiding when she mentioned her brother and was now rubbing up against the corners of her trunk.

"Ha! Found it!" said Liv with a triumphant smile. "Lemme ask Ty if he knows the name of his host parents yet." She sat down on Harry's bed holding a thin, black laptop computer. On the top of the laptop were the same crimson symbols that were on her trunk. Marty meowed in anticipation as Liv waited for the lap top to turn on. "Come on, hurry up," she muttered, "powered by magic and it's still slow..."

"Um, what are you doing?" Harry asked. He knew a lot about muggle technology because a lot of Dudley's old, broken stuff was stored in his room, but he was still a bit confused.

"It's a laptop; a travel sized, personal computer...My brother has one just like it, only it has different symbols on the top," Liv smiled. "Yes, _finally_!" she said after the screen flickered on. Harry moved from his desk and sat down next to her on the bed.

"Who's that?" he asked as he pointed to the background on the main screen.

"That's my brother...he was fooling around with the settings on this thing before I left. He probably wanted to make sure I didn't forget him. Usually I have a picture of one of my favorite guitarists up instead...I live for a good song," she said with a smile.

"I don't really get to listen to music too much at Hogwarts. Unless you count that one time the Weird Sisters came and played at the Yule Ball..." Harry said thoughtfully. "What's your favorite type of music?"

"Mostly rock 'n roll from the '70's I'm a fan of just about every rock group from that era. Then there's the three or four unusual bands that are more current...But classic rock is my favorite, the songs are more fun to play," said Liv.

"Play? Do you play an instrument?" Harry asked. He never had the chance to learn anything interesting living with his aunt and uncle.

"Yeah, I can play the guitar. My brother can play it too, but he prefers the bass. A friend of mine plays the drums and my best girl friend plays the guitar. We kinda have a band, I guess...my brother and I usually sing. Although it's kind of unusual to see the bass player of a band singing lead vocals..." Liv said, her mind wandering.

"Dudley has a guitar, an acoustic one. He begged and pleaded for it for months. When he finally got one for Christmas he had one lesson and quit. 'It's too hard and it hurt's my fingers,'" Harry said in a whining voice.

Liv laughed, "At least he had a lesson...I taught myself. Do you know if he still has it? I had one but um...that's another story," Liv said, her laptop forgotten.

"I don't know, I could go ask him while you do whatever it was you were going to do with that thing," Harry said as he got up and moved toward the door.

"Really? That would be great. Oh, and if Dudley wants to know why I want to borrow it, or possibly have it _hint, hint_, just tell him I'm writing him a song or something...that blundering idiot wouldn't be able to say 'no'!" Liv said, a mischievous grin on her face. Harry left the room laughing. Liv smiled and brought up the internet on her computer so she could send her a brother an e-mail.

"Dudley! Hey Dudley?" Harry called as he walked down the hall and towards his cousin's room. When he got to his cousin's room he found the door left open and that Dudley wasn't inside. "Dudley?" he called out quietly. Harry stuck his head in through the doorway and scanned the room in one sweeping glance.

The room was full of toys, unread books, and oversized clothes that were too small for Dudley and would most likely go to Harry (even though they were 10 sizes too big). His cousin had so much stuff, always wanted more, and over half of it was broken, never used, or on the floor of his room. This was the only part of the house that Aunt Petunia didn't bother to keep spotless.

"What're you looking for?" Dudley asked angrily from behind Harry, making him jump and automatically go for his wand. "Put that _thing_ away before Olivia sees it," Dudley snapped. "Why are you in my room?"

"I wasn't in your room. I was in the door way to your room," Harry corrected.

"What do you want?" Dudley said crossing his arms sternly in front of him, trying to sound like his father while maneuvering his large behind up against the wall...just in case.

"I was wondering if you still have your guitar, that one you got for Christmas a few years ago," said Harry plainly.

"I might have it, but I'm not going to give it to _you_," Dudley sneered, "What do you want with it, you can't play?"

"Neither can you," Harry replied quickly. "But Olivia can."

"She can?!" said Dudley, a dreamy grin spreading on his large face. "I wonder if she could teach me..."

"She could, but you'd quit," Harry muttered.

"I'll go find it," said Dudley. He disappeared into his room and after some rustling around and a few crashes of large piles of items he re-emerged with the acoustic guitar. "I hope she likes it," he said proudly.

Harry doubted that, he was by no means an expert on guitars, or any instrument for that matter, but he could tell immediately that the thing was out of shape and in desperate need of repair. He took the guitar back to the room knowing that Liv would have to use magic to restore it.

"I've got it, although it's going to need some work," Harry said as he entered his room.

"It doesn't have any strings! And look at all the dents and scratches...what did he do to this poor thing? Drag it around the house and down the stairs!" she took the guitar from Harry and looked it over, turning it, inspecting it from every angle. "He let moisture get to it, the wood is warped. The frets are rusted, so are the tuning pegs...this thing is in horrible condition."

Harry wasn't sure exactly what she was talking about but agreed with what she was saying anyway.

"It's a good brand name too. He destroyed one of the more expensive, higher quality guitars," she said sounding disgusted.

"He wondered if you would teach him," said Harry, trying not to laugh.

"Hell no!" she said quickly. Harry burst out laughing and Liv glared at him. "I'm serious...I'm not letting this poor instrument anywhere near him ever again. I'm telling him it's hopeless. And hopefully he'll forget about it so I can take it with me to school and repair it there."

"You'll be able to repair it?" Harry asked as he stopped laughing.

"Of course, it'll be tricky...but it's doable." She said as she set the guitar on the floor near her trunk. "Want to read the message I'm sending to Ty?"

"Sure," he sat down on the bed and she placed the laptop on his lap. The message read:

**Ty...guess who?**

**Hey, it's me, your favorite sis. My host family sucks, but the wizard of the house is great...quite helpful actually. You'll get along great with him, and Marty likes him too... Speaking of Marty, he misses you terribly. Anyway, I was wondering if you knew the name of your host parents yet. Let me know a.s.a.p.**

**I miss you a lot,**

**Ollie**

"Ollie? Why did you sign your letter as 'Ollie'?" Harry asked after he finished reading the letter.

"It's his nickname for me. We've always been really close, even when we were little. He couldn't say 'Olivia' so he started calling me 'Ollie' and it stuck," said Liv.

"But you also go by 'Liv,'" said Harry.

"Yeah, but only my wizarding friends know me as 'Liv' the rest of the world can call me Olivia," she said as she clicked on the send button with the mouse. "Hopefully he'll be online, that way I can get a response soon."

Olivia was checking her e-mail and Harry had returned to his desk to write to Hermione to tell her he didn't need to know the surprise, when Olivia got a response from her brother.

"Tyler's answered my question. 'Hey Ollie, it's about time I heard from you!' " Liv read, "'I hope you're having a fun time, tell Marty I miss him too. You're staying in a house of muggles with one wizard? That's odd...is the wizard boy cute? If so, you know I'll have to kick his ass...' Sorry, Harry, maybe I shouldn't have read that part out loud," she said, blushing slightly she continued, "'My host family's last name is Granger, why? Keep in touch, Ty'"

"Granger, that confirms it. Your brother is staying at one of my best friend's house," Harry said. Liv nodded her head and was soon typing her response. Harry came over to read over her shoulder.

**Ty, you butt!**

**I'm not going to answer your first question. I wanted to know about your host family because Harry and I were trying to confirm whether or not you were staying with one of his best friends**

**Ollie**

"Short, but to the point, don't you think?" she said as she hit send.

"Yeah," said Harry as he looked toward the clock on his nightstand. "Liv, it's almost time for dinner...maybe we should make an appearance."

"Good point. I just realized we've been in here all day," said Liv.

"Yeah, we have...my aunt and uncle should be thankful that you've kept me out of their way all day," said Harry. He got up and crossed the room to the door and went out into the hall. "We won't have to worry about him tomorrow, he'll be at work."

"Thankfully," Liv muttered.

"Coming?"

"Yeah, just a second...I'm waiting for Tyler's reply. Whoa speak of the Devil!" she said as the e-mail came. Harry entered the room and moved once more to Liv's side.

**Whoa! What? Huh?**

"That's all it says?" Harry asked.

"Yeah, I think he's confused...I'll just leave him in the dark a little longer," she said, a mischievous grin on her face. "'Sorry, Ty. Time for dinner...see ya later.'" She said as she typed.

"Harsh," said Harry sarcastically.

"But funny," said Liv, nodding her head in agreement. "Speaking of which...let's make dinner a bit more interesting tonight. Let's make Uncle Vernon nervous."

"I'd say that I've had a bad influence on you but that's impossible...we just met!" said Harry.

"It's not your doing...my brother and I have always been trouble makers," she said as she walked out through the door. Harry shook his head and slowly followed her downstairs.

_What does Dumbledore have in store for us this year?_ He thought.


	4. Chapter 4

**Title:** Whisper on a Stream (4/?)  
**Author name:** darkforest214  
**Category: **Drama, Angst  
**Spoilers: **Books 1 through 5  
**Rating: **PG  
**Summary: **Um, well it's Harry's 6th year and some surprises await him (as does danger).  
**Disclaimer: **This story is based on characters and situations created and owned by JK Rowling, various publishers including but not limited to Bloomsbury Books, Scholastic Books and Raincoast Books, and Warner Bros., Inc. No money is being made and no copyright or trademark infringement is intended. Aka... I own _nothing_ (except for a few characters...my little first years and few others I won't mention just yet...)

**

* * *

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Chapter Four  
Push on a Shove

"You two finally came out?" said Uncle Vernon as Harry and Liv entered the dining room.

"Harry was helping me get comfortable, to unpack...and make me feel more at home," said Liv with a smile.

"Olivia, want to spend the day together tomorrow?" asked Dudley. "I could take you to the park," he added hopefully.

"Harry already took me to the park," she said without thinking.

"Oh," said Dudley quietly, sounding slightly depressed.

"Hey, cheer up, maybe you could take me to meet your friends," said Liv, hoping he wouldn't say 'yes.'

"I don't know if that's a good idea," Harry whispered. Liv caught Harry's eye and gave him a subtle wink, Harry nodded his head once and Liv continued.

"I would love to meet your friends, even if they're only half as interesting as you," she said, a cynical smile on her face.

Dudley was too thick to catch that she was messing with him and said somewhat shocked, "If... if you really want to."

"He better find some new friends then... and soon," Harry muttered between mouthfuls of food.

"That's enough, boy," said Uncle Vernon strictly.

"Sorry, Uncle Vernon," Harry muttered unconvincingly.

They ate the rest of dinner in silence, Dudley was smiling all throughout dinner and for once he didn't beg for thirds. Afterwards Harry and Liv disappeared once more into Harry's room.

**

* * *

**

"You're actually going to go meet his friends?" asked Harry disbelieving.

"Yeah, I'm think I'm going to play a few tricks on them... a few magic tricks that is," she said, a sly smile on her face.

"If you're allowed to do magic again by then," said Harry.

"Good point," laughed Liv.

"You're horrible, you know that, right?" said Harry admiringly.

"Thank you," she replied with a big smile.

"Anytime," he said with a laugh.

Liv sat down at the desk with her computer, "That's an interesting little owl," she said as she looked up when a tiny owl flew in through the open window and zoomed wildly around the room.

"Pig! Pig, calm down!" said Harry as he snatched the small owl out of the air.

"Pig?" Olivia asked.

"Pigwidgeon, 'Pig' for short. It's Ron's owl. My godfather gave it to him after he lost his rat," he said with a hint of sadness in his voice. He forgot about the twittering little owl in his hands until Pig nibbled his fingers a little too hard. "Ouch! Bloody bird!" he muttered.

"So the letter is from Ron?" Liv asked.

"Yeah, and I imagine he has some questions about you as well," said Harry said as he unrolled the letter.

"Of course he would. It's not everyday some girl moves in with your best friend... Oh, wait 'til he hears about Ty staying with Hermione!" said Liv.

"He'll freak out. He's never admitted it, but I think he has a bit of a crush on Hermione," said Harry thoughtfully.

"Really?!" Liv laughed, "I was joking! What does the letter say?"

"Hear, you can read it yourself," said Harry as he passed it to her. She took it and read the following;

_Harry,_

_So...how's the exchange student? Hermione told me that it was indeed a girl. Oh, Hedwig is resting here a bit but is anxious to return home to you. Guess what?! Hermione has good news, but I'm not suppose to tell you... she mentioned something about a questionnaire she wanted you to fill out. Oh well, I'll tell you about it anyway. Hogwarts is getting a second exchange student! Cool huh? I'd tell you more, if I knew anything else. Hermione didn't tell me anything. I guess she figured I'd tell you... I'll let you know if I find out anything else from her._

_Ron_

"This confirms it even further," said Liv as she handed the letter back to Harry. "Not that it need further conformation..." Harry nodded his head in agreement.

Harry went over to his trunk and pulled out a book. He sat down on the floor across from the bed and opened it. He sat there, thoughts racing through his head, too preoccupied to read. He finally gave up after reading the same sentence five times.

He looked over at Liv, who had moved to the bed, was doing something on that little computer of hers. There was something about her, but Harry couldn't quite put his finger on it. '_Maybe it's the way she teases Dudley, or maybe the way she argues with Uncle Vernon and manages to win every time. Or maybe it's the way she talks about her brother, the two were close and I could hear the love in her voice.' _Harry thought.

Liv looked up and saw Harry looking at her. She smiled and blushed slightly, Harry quickly returned his gaze to the book in his lap, but his thoughts stayed on Liv. _'When she smiles she lights up the room. Maybe that 'something' has to do with the fact that I can talk so easily with her and she actually listens to me...'_ He liked how she treated him like a normal teenage boy, not as a famous wizard responsible for the downfall of Lord Voldemort. There where so many great things about her, but there seemed to be some kind of mystery floating about her.

"Harry?" she asked, snapping him out of his thoughts. He looked up from his book to show that he heard her. "You've got another visitor," she said indicating the window.

"I never get this much mail!" Harry said as he stood up and went over to the owl. Taking the letter from the owl and reading the address on the front he recognized Dumbledore's handwriting in the crisp, green ink. "It's for you!" he said handing it to her. Harry noticed the owl hadn't left, it was clinging to the chair at his desk looking important.

"It's from Professor Dumbledore, letting me know that it's okay to do magic again," said Liv after reading it. "He's got it all cleared up with the Ministry."

"That's good," said Harry.

"Marty, come here," she called. The cat jumped up onto the bed and looked up at Liv. "Dumbledore has sent this owl to take you on a little tour of England. That way you won't get lost and I can use you to send letters," she said to the cat. With a meow of excitement he turned into an owl. Liv carried him to the window while muttering, "We don't have to worry about Sammy getting lost, do we? But then again, he's not an owl..." Marty hooted in agreement and took off through the window, the other owl left too. Harry and Liv stood by the window watching the two owls fly out into the growing darkness.

"Who's Sammy?" Harry asked, "I heard you mention him to Marty."

"She's my brother's cat, well I guess she's sort of mine too considering we share just about _everything_." Harry looked at her blankly so she decided to explain further. "Sorry I didn't mentioned Sammy before because I didn't want Marty to be two homesick. When my brother and I began our wizard training Mom bought us each a magical cat. Marty can turn into an owl and he acts as the family's owl...although Dad just thinks he's a cat. Marty can also distinguish wizards from muggles. And Sammy, who's real name is Samantha, likes to find things. And she does it quite well I might add," she said. Harry decided not to ask. "You just tell her what you're looking for and she'll run off and find it."

A knock on the door brought Harry and Liv's attention away from the window. "Who is it?" said Harry, reluctant to ask.

"It's me... I want to speak with Olivia," Dudley said quietly.

"Oh great," Liv muttered sarcastically to Harry. She crossed the room and opened the door, "What's up Dud?" she asked with a fake smile.

"I was wondering what you thought of my guitar," he said shyly as he entered the room.

Liv sighed and exchanged looks with Harry, "I'm going to be honest with you," she said. She went over to the guitar and picked it up, "Dudley, you killed this poor thing."

Dudley hung his head and muttered inaudibly.

"It's going to need a lot of work, it's an excellent brand name, you just didn't take care of it," said Liv.

"You can have it want, I don't know how to play," said Dudley still not looking at her.

"No, Dudley," she said sharply, "I don't want it."

Dudley turned to leave the room and said sadly, "Tomorrow, you don't have to come meet my friends if you don't want to. I'll understand if you'd rather spend your time with this freak."

"Now wait a minute," Liv said suddenly. "You have no right to call him a freak!" Dudley was taken aback, but soon recovered.

"You wouldn't say that if you knew what he really is," Dudley sneered. He was hoping to damage her view of Harry, but instead she was starting to hate Dudley even more than before.

"Oh really?"

"Yeah,"

"Honestly, Dudley, I don't mind at all that he's a–"

"Olivia!" Harry interrupted.

" –wizard." She finished, glaring defiantly at Dudley.

Dudley was shocked and took a step back. "How did you–?" he managed to say.

"With a flick of her wrist Harry saw her wand drop into her hand. She pointed it straight at Dudley who backed up against the door in shock. "Wizards aren't freaks." She said, her eyes flashing in anger.

Dudley regained a little bit of confidence as he remembered something that could save him. "You can't do anything to me."

"Can't I?" she replied her wand still pointed at his chest

"Olivia, I don't think–" Harry cut in.

"Don't worry about it, Harry," Liv said quietly.

"You can't do magic out of school, you'll be expelled," he said snobbishly like a know-it-all.

Liv smiled a sardonic, evil smile that made both Harry and Dudley cringe as she pulled the note from Dumbledore out of her pocket with her free hand.

"Olivia, don't," said Harry cautiously

"Harry may not be allowed, but I am. In America we're allowed to at the age of sixteen... and guess how old I am," she sneered.

"Six-sixteen" Dudley stuttered.

"Exactly,"

"W-what are y-you g-going to do?"

"Nothing, for now," she said. "But if you tell your parents... let's just say I'm not a very nice person when provoked." She waved her wand in his face before making it disappear back into her sleeve. She turned and walked back to the window where Harry still stood slightly shocked and Dudley waddled out of the room as fast as his fat legs would carry him.

"Liv, why did you–?" Harry started to ask.

"He needs to show a bit more respect towards people with more power than him," she said staring out the window, anger still shining in her eyes.

"I've always wanted to do something like that..." Harry muttered admiringly. "Although hearing it from you was probably more a shock to him than if I would have done something like that.

"It felt good," she said appreciatively. She flexed the muscles in her right arm and her wand dropped into her hand.

"How did you do that?" Harry asked as he watched her twirl her wand in her fingers.

"It took practice, but I learned to make it work eventually," she said as she pushed up the sleeve of her shirt to reveal a leather harness wrapped around her arm.

"What's that?" Harry asked.

"The reason I almost always wear long sleeves," she joked. "No, it holds my wand against my arm, that way it's always easily accessible," she said as she slid her wand back into the harness. "All I have to do is flex the right muscles in my arm and it'll release the wand, letting it fall into my hand." She demonstrated and once more she was twirling the wand in her fingers.

"Wow, that's pretty cool, where'd you get it?" Harry asked as he looked at the harness on her arm.

"My grandfather had one, my brother and I found it when we were cleaning the attic of our grandparents' home last summer," said Liv, "When I asked him what it was he put it on and showed Tyler and I how to work it. He made one for Ty and me and gave them to us on our 16th birthday."

"Oh, I was hoping I'd be able to find one in a store somewhere..." said Harry sounding somewhat disappointed.

"I could make you one... Grandpa showed me how after my first one shrank. Did you know that if you soak leather in water it shrinks?"

"Uh, no, I guess I didn't know that," said Harry.

"Well, my harness had shrunk and would cut off the circulation on my arm. He helped me make this one, and out of nice black leather too," she said with a smile.

"When's your birthday? I could make one for–"

"HARRY!!!" came Uncle Vernon's booming voice from downstairs.

"Uh-oh, you don't think Dudley told already, do you?" Liv asked nervously.

"No, he probably twisted the story around and made it sound like I threatened him," Harry said as he turned to leave the room.

"Want me to come along?" Liv asked.

"Yeah, but you better use my invisibility cloak," said Harry. He rummaged through his trunk and pulled out a silvery cloak and handed it to Liv.

"HARRY, GET DOWN HERE _NOW_!" called Uncle Vernon again.

"Cover yourself completely, and don't make a sound...then again he won't be able to hear you over his own yelling," said Harry as he hurried out the door.

Liv replaced her wand and pulled down her sleeve, covering herself with the cloak she followed Harry into the living room.

"How dare you threaten my son," hissed Uncle Vernon. His face was a dark shade of purple and was growing darker.

"And you did it in front of our guest!" Aunt Petunia exclaimed.

Uncle Vernon grabbed Harry by the shirt collar and got right in his face. "I've had enough of you boy. We raised you, we've housed you, fed you, clothed you... we even bought you those glasses. But I could take all that away from you so quickly your head would spin," Uncle Vernon snarled trying to keep his voice down in case Liv overheard. "And we've allowed you to go to that school of yours and put up with that bloody bird. Let me tell you, boy, I've just about had it!"

Harry stood there silently as Uncle Vernon continued to remind him how 'gracious' they've been to him and how ungracious he is. Liv slipped back upstairs and set the cloak on the bed and returned downstairs in time to see Uncle Vernon on the verge of explosion.

"You got anything to say about that, boy?"

"Yes," said Harry calmly, "you clearly don't want me here."

"Damn straight I don't! I should have you shipped off to–"

"Harry and I will be gone before the end of the week," said Liv as she came supportively to Harry's side.

Uncle Vernon released Harry and looked at Olivia as if he had just swallowed a poisonous frog.

"What?" Aunt Petunia managed to say, she was dumbfounded.

"Just give us a day or two to arrange transportation and we'll be out of your hair for the rest of the summer," said Liv. "Harry, we should go pack."

"Wait a minute," Uncle Vernon said after snapping out of his stupor. "Why... where do you... why would you go with him?" he said confused.

"Because I will not stay in a house full of muggles that treat wizards the way you treat Harry," Liv answered sternly. Harry imagined she was about to tense the muscles that would release her wand into her hand if need be.

"Muggles! How do you know that word?" said Aunt Petunia.

"She's... she's a witch," said Dudley, his voice a mere squeak.

"You can use ma-ma–?"

"Magic?" Harry said helpfully, and Uncle Vernon glared at him.

"Yup," Liv answered.

"Upstairs, both of you... I need some aspirin, you're giving me a headache, Petunia darling..." Uncle Vernon moaned.

"Like we need you to tell us to go upstairs," Harry said spitefully.

Harry and Liv quietly went upstairs and once in his room Harry spoke. "You didn't have to do that," he said quietly.

"I'm sorry Harry... I don't know what came over me. I just... I hated seeing you being yelled at like that," said Liv staring at the floor not wanting to meet Harry's eyes.

"Liv, don't worry about it. I probably would have run away before the end of summer anyway," said Harry.

"It's just that, I get really frustrated when people are treated badly just because they're different," she said. She looked up at Harry and he noticed a single tear falling down her cheek.

He walked over to her and wiped the tear from her face, he then smiled and said, "Don't worry about it. What Uncle Vernon says doesn't bother me."

"Are you sure?"

"Yeah, I'm proud of my heritage, and if my talent angers him..." he shrugged, "It's also fun to annoy him with the fact that I am what I am," he said with a reassuring smile.

Liv smiled, "He's scared of you, scared of your power."

"I've never thought about it that way!" said Harry.

"They treat us bad because they're scared of us, scared of what we can do. And in some cases, muggles are jealous too..." said Liv thinking out loud.

"Exactly! Hmm...maybe that's why the Ministry of Magic works so hard to keep our world a secret," said Harry.

"Wait! Where are we going to go? We can't stay here!" said Liv suddenly.

"Oh yeah... Well, we could stay at the Burrow," said Harry after a moment of thought, "Or at the Inn above the Leaky Cauldron at Diagon Alley."

"Do you think we could stay at the Burrow? I'd love to meet your friends," said Liv.

"We could ask...but neither of our owls are here and Pig left already," said Harry.

"Oh, right..."

"Let's just go to bed and maybe at least one of them will be back by morning," Harry suggested.

"Sounds like a plan to me," she said trying to stifle a yawn. The two then went to bed, Harry laying on the floor, and about ten minutes later Liv spoke up. "Harry?"

"Hmm?"

"I can't sleep," she said.

"Neither can I," he muttered from his spot on the floor.

"Too much excitement... mind if I play my guitar for a bit? Usually a little bit of music puts me right to sleep, depending on the music of course," she said. She crawled to the foot of the bed and looked down at Harry.

"I don't mind... in fact, I'd love to hear you play," said Harry as he looked up at her. She crawled out of bed and over to her trunk. Pushing her clothes aside she reached down through the bottom of her trunk and pulled out her guitar by the neck.

"Magical trunk," she said when she turned around and saw the quizzical look on Harry's face. She draped the shoulder strap over her head and sat on the bed. Getting comfortable she played a few chords before starting a song.

Harry closed his eyes and listened as the slow and melodic rhythm slowly put him to sleep. When the song ended he said in a sleepy voice, "That was good."

"Thanks...I didn't write it though," she said. Harry heard a soft clunk as she set the guitar down next to the bed. "I'll have to play some of the other–" she yawned, "–songs I know for you some other time." She curled up in bed and soon both were asleep.

**

* * *

**

Harry was walking along a stream and stopped to stare into the water. He thought he heard a voice, whispering softly. Harry strained to hear what the voice was saying but he was suddenly awakened from his dream by two loud 'cracks' coming from the kitchen. Sitting up he looked at the clock, 2 A.M. forgetting his dream he grabbed his wand and crept quietly down the stairs.

"Ouch, George! That's my foot!" he heard one voice say.

"Sorry, Fred, but I can't see a–" Harry flipped the lights on, "–thing."

In the middle of the kitchen Harry saw the red headed Weasley twins shielding their eyes from the sudden brightness of the room.

"Fred?! George?! What are you–?"

"We've come to kidnap you!" said Fred.

"Yup, we want to get you out of this strange place and bring you back to the norm." said George.

"That and we want you to see the progress we've made with our store," said Fred with a shrug.

"You'll take us to the Burrow?" Harry asked.

"Yup," said Fred nodding his head.

"Us?" George asked.

"Didn't Ron tell you?" Harry asked. Both twins shook their red heads and looked questioningly at him. "One of the Hogwarts exchange students is staying here."

"You're crazy muggle relatives let another wizard stay in their house?!" said Fred shocked.

"Willingly?" asked George.

"Yeah, they didn't know about it until tonight," said Harry.

"Then that black owl must have been the exchange student's," said George.

"Marty?"

"We don't know its name. It just showed up with an owl from Dumbledore," said Fred.

"The other owl had a note saying you needed out of here so Fred and I left the black owl in our room and made plans to come here tonight," said George.

"How did Dumbledore know?" Harry asked, thinking out loud.

"Who knows," Fred said with a shrug. "Let's get down to business. I'll go keep an eye on your relatives."

"Harry, you'll pack and I'll wake your guest," said George.

"Um...okay," Harry muttered. Fred had already left the kitchen and started up the stairs, George following close behind.

Fred positioned himself in the hall outside of Uncle Vernon and Aunt Petunia's bedroom and George walked into Harry's room, Harry close behind.

"Start getting your stuff together, I'll wake him up," George said quietly.

"Not a 'him' but a 'her'... Liv's a girl," Harry corrected him.

"Oh... oops," George muttered.

Harry started throwing things in his trunk while George quietly slipped over to the bed. He covered Liv's mouth with his hand and she was startled out of sleep. "Shh, it's okay... Fred and I are here to get you and Harry out of here," George said quickly and quietly. Liv nodded showing she understood and the look of terror left her eyes. George removed his hand.

"Hello, I'm uh...I'm Olivia James," she introduced herself, "but you can call me Liv... everyone else does," she said with a smile. She couldn't take her eyes off of him.

"Nice to meet you Liv, I'm, uh... I'm George Weasley," he said. He couldn't seem to take his eyes off her either.

Harry cleared his throat to get their attention, "Liv, you should probably pack... oh, and don't forget your guitar."

"Right...pack...don't worry, I'd never leave my guitar behind," she said as she got up and threw her items into her trunk and placed the guitar back in it as well.

"Harry, did you know that your uncle snores like a bear?" Fred said as he entered Harry's room. "No need to worry about him waking up, a little sleeping spell took care of them both...unless his snoring wakes him up," he added with a laugh. "You must be the exchange student," said Fred when he caught sight of Liv, "I'm Fred."

She looked up at Fred and did a double take; these were the twins Harry had told her about. Harry was right; they did look almost exactly alike, _almost._

"Hi, I'm Liv," she said, avoiding the formal introduction she gave earlier.

"Uh, you two about ready?" George asked as he looked at the time on Harry's bedside clock.

"Yeah, I'm done," said Liv. "I haven't been here long enough to need much packing."

"I'm almost finished, hold on... I can't find my Quidditch Through the Ages book," said Harry as he rummaged through some old, useless papers on his desk.

"It's under your bed," said Liv.

"What?"

"I saw it under there when I was trying to get Marty to come out the other day..."

"You crawled under the bed?" Fred asked.

"Yeah," Liv answered with a shrug of her shoulders.

"You're skinny, but that still looks like a tight squeeze," said George.

"Why, thank you," Liv said with a smile.

Harry looked to Liv as if to ask if it was all right to reveal her Animagi secret, she nodded and Harry said, "She's an unregistered Animagus."

"Oh," Fred said. Both Fred and George were giving her (matching) looks of admiration.

"I'll get it for you," she said blushing slightly. Fred and George watched in amazement as they saw her tail disappear under the bed. She then pushed the book with her nose out from under the bed and crawled out from under it, her tail wagging. George bent down to pick up the book and scratched Liv between the ears before standing up and handing the book to Harry.

"Thanks," said Harry.

"Anytime," said Liv with a smile as she reappeared, standing at George's side.

"Okay, I'm ready," said Harry as he locked his trunk.

Fred took Harry's trunk and George took Liv's while Harry and Liv carried their pet's empty cages and followed Fred and George out of the room.

"Un... how exactly are we going to get there?" Harry asked when they had all gathered in the living room.

"The Knight Bus," Fred answered.

"Not to exciting, I know... but you two are two young to Apparate and the fireplace isn't connected to the Floo Network, so..." George said with a shrug.

"Knight Bus it is then," said Harry.

**

* * *

**

They all went outside and walked down to the end of the driveway. Fred pulled out his wand and held it out into the street. The four heard a loud 'bang' at the end of the street and a triple-decker, purple bus came zigzagging down Privet Drive. Fred had to push Harry out of the way and George backed up into Liv and stood protectively in front of her as the bus stopped where Fred had been standing moments before.

Harry laughed, the Knight Bus was in the Dursley's yard, and he hoped it left tire marks...

"Why, I remember you!" a zit faced man said to Harry as he handed the man money for his ride fare and Liv's as well.

"Nice seeing you again too, Stan," said Harry somewhat sarcastically.

"Not running away from home are ya boys?" said Stan, Liv cleared her throat, "and girl?," he added. "Sorry, miss..."

"That's all right," she said. She smiled and followed Harry and the twins to the back of the empty bus.

"Name's Stan Shunpike, and I'll be yer tour guide fo the eavinin'," Stan joked. "Actually–"

"Just do yer job boy," the driver called out.

"Er, right, Ernie. So, where are ya goin'? The Knight Bus will take ya anywhere that's not under water... Where to?" said Stan.

"The Burrow," Fred said. "Mum won't mind waking up a little early..."

"I hope," George muttered to Harry.

"Sit back, relax and enjoy the ride," Stan said as the bus lurched forward and they started on their frightening trip across London.


	5. Chapter 5

**Title:** Whisper on a Stream (5/?)  
**Author name:** darkforest214  
**Category: **Drama, Angst  
**Spoilers: **Books 1 through 5  
**Rating: **PG  
**Summary:** Um, well it's Harry's 6th year and some surprises await him (as does danger).  
**Disclaimer: **This story is based on characters and situations created and owned by JK Rowling, various publishers including but not limited to Bloomsbury Books, Scholastic Books and Raincoast Books, and Warner Bros., Inc. No money is being made and no copyright or trademark infringement is intended. Aka... I own _nothing_ (except for a few characters...my little first years and few others I won't mention just yet...)

**

* * *

**

Chapter Five  
Miles Away

With a loud pop and a bang the Knight Bus came to a stop at the Burrow. The trip was uneventful except for the fact that the hour had a hard time staying in their seats every time the bus swerved to avoid a tree (which it would have hit anyway if it hadn't jumped out of the way).

"Thanks fer choosing the Knight Bus fer your transportation needs. Ride again soon," Stan said as all four muttered their good-byes and stepped off the bus.

"Welcome to the Burrow," said Fred.

"Welcome back Harry," George said with a smile.

"Feels great to be back," said Harry as he looked admiringly up at the tall crooked house.

"Wow! Fred, George, this place is amazing," Liv said as she looked up at the Burrow in wonder.

"FRED! GEORGE! HOW MANY TIMES MUST I TELL YOU TO LEAVE A NOTE?!" shouted Mrs. Weasley as she ran out of the house to greet them.

"At least once more, mum," said Fred.

"Get in the house, go on, both of you...get!" she said, pushing the twins toward the house. She then turned on Harry and trapped him in a smothering hug. "Harry dear, how wonderful to see you."

"It's great to see you too," Harry managed to say.

"Oh! And who is this?" she asked letting go of Harry and going to Liv.

"Er... she's the exchange student," Harry answered.

"Or at least one of them," said Liv. "Hello, I'm Olivia James or Liv for short."

"Welcome to our home, Miss James," said Mrs. Weasley. "Please, come inside you two. You must be hungry," she said as she ushered them toward the house. "Don't worry about your things, dears, I'll have Fred and George collect your trunks."

Once in the kitchen Mrs. Weasley immediately started making breakfast, "A little earlier than usual this morning, but..." she said with a shrug as she stood over the stove. Harry and Liv sat at the large table across from Fred and George, both of whom complained loudly when Mrs. Weasley told them to go and bring in Harry and Liv's trunks. They finally gave in and pulled out your wands.

"No! Don't you dare!" Mrs. Weasley said immediately. "Go outside and bring them in _without_ your wands."

The twins left the kitchen and went outside. Harry, Liv and Mrs. Weasley heard someone coming down the stairs.

"Mum, what's with all the noise?" Ginny said as she sleepily entered the kitchen. "Harry! When did you get here?" she said when she spotted him.

"This morning," said Harry, "Fred and George kidnapped us in the middle of the night and we took the Knight Bus here."

"Then you must be–"

"–the exchange student," George finished for her as he entered the kitchen.

"We put their trunks in the living room," Fred told their mother.

"See, now that wasn't so hard. Was it?" said Mrs. Weasley. "Never mind, don't answer that," she added quickly when Fred opened his mouth to complain.

"Hello, I'm Liv," Liv said to Ginny.

"I'm Ginny, the youngest Weasley, and the only girl... thank goodness you came along," said Ginny, "I don't know how much longer I could have put up with these guys!"

"Uh...where's Ron?" Harry asked eagerly.

"Probably still in bed," said Fred.

"Snoring his ickle head off," said George.

"Yeah Harry, I feel bad for you and the boys of your dorm..." said Fred.

"...Ron's snoring has gotten worse," said George with a laugh.

"My brother and I do that," Liv said as she looked at the twins.

"Snore?" Fred asked.

"No," Liv laughed, "We finish each other's sentences too..."

"Must be a twin thing," Harry said with a shrug of his shoulders.

"You have a–?" George started to ask

"–twin?" Liv finished. "Yeah, we're not identical or anything, obviously... but we get along great."

"It must be true," Fred said, "You're great at finishing sentences... and you just finished George's." George nodded in agreement.

"Harry, do you want me to go see if Ron's awake?" asked Ginny, changing the subject.

"No, that's okay. Let my arrival be a bit of a surprise for him," said Harry.

After they had all finished eating Mrs. Weasley and Ginny took Liv and her stuff up to Ginny's room where Liv would be staying the rest of the summer holiday. Fred and George took Harry into their room to show him some of their latest inventions and joke products. They picked out an item or two that they'd use to wake Ron, but they didn't get to use the items. Ron was already awake when Harry entered his room, and he was sitting at his cluttered desk writing something.

"Hello, Ron," Harry said quietly from behind Ron's chair.

"Harry!" Ron nearly shouted, startling Hedwig and causing Pig to fly wildly around the room. "Harry, how long have you been here?" he asked.

"Since early this morning," said Harry.

"And no one came to wake me?"

"Sorry, your mother was ordering us all to eat..."

"But how did you get here?" Ron asked.

"Fred and George came and kidnapped us in the middle of the night," said Harry.

"Us?"

_Why does everyone keep asking that? Ron knew about Liv..._ "The exchange student... ring a bell?"

"Oh yeah... forgot about that..." said Ron. "Wait, Fred! George! You went to rescue him didn't take me?" He said, glaring at the twins, "He's my best friend!"

"George and I are a team... we cause mischief better when it's just the two of us," said Fred. "And Lee too, I guess..." he added as an afterthought.

"That and you're still too young to Apparate," said George.

"So are Harry and what's-her-name," Ron said loudly.

"Liv," Harry said helpfully.

"We Apparated there, dummy," said Fred.

"And took the Knight Bus back home," said George.

Ron couldn't come up with a good come back so he changed the subject. "I was actually writing to you when you came in."

"Really? What about?" Harry asked.

"The other exchange student," said Ron. "I was able to find out more form Hermione. I think she's given up on you."

"Oh, that's okay, I already know all about him," said Harry.

"How?" asked Ron, looking at Harry suspiciously.

"Because _his sister_ is downstairs in _your sister's_ room," said Harry. Ron continued to look confused and Harry just shook his head.

"C'mon, Ron," said Fred, placing a hand on Ron's left shoulder.

"We'll take you to her," said George as he grabbed Ron's right shoulder. The twins steered him out of his room and down the stairs, Harry following behind them.

When they entered Ginny's room Ron, Fred and George were slightly shocked to see Ginny playing with a Shetland sheepdog. But Fred and George remembered that the dog was just Liv in her Animagus form, Ron on the other hand...

"Ginny, where'd that dog come from?!" asked Ron.

"It's Liv," said Harry. Getting down on his knees the dog came over to him her tail wagging.

"The exchange student is a dog?" Ron asked staring at the dog, a sceptical look on his face.

"Yeah, and George and I graduated at the top of our class," said Fred sarcastically, while Harry scratched Liv's ears.

"What are you talking about? You two didn't even graduate!" said Ron.

"Duh... we're not stupid," said Fred.

"It's called 'sarcasm,' Ron," George said. "Honestly, some people get it, and some people don't," he said to Fred as he shook his head.

"No, Ron...Liv's an Animagi," Harry said as he stood up and took a step back.

Liv turned back into a human and held out her hand to Ron. "Nice to meet you. Harry's told me all about you," she said with a smile.

Ron looked at Liv with a mixture of amazement, confusion, and wonder. "I...uh...er...hello," Ron managed to say.

"Snap out of it, little brother," George said, giving Ron a light punch on his shoulder.

"Uh...sorry," Ron muttered.

"That's okay," Liv said with a laugh, "I'd probably act the same if I just saw a strange animal turn into a human in front of my eyes."

"Guess what," Harry said suddenly.

"What?" both Ron and Liv said at the same time.

"Ron here has found out more about the other exchange student," said Harry with a wink to Liv.

"Oh, that," said Ron.

"Really? Tell me all about him..." Liv said with a slight hint of sarcasm in her voice.

"Uh, well Hermione said that he'll arrive on Saturday, and that's what...like five days away?" said Ron.

"Whoa, I just realized something," Liv said.

"What?" Ginny asked distractedly.

"I've been in England for only three days and already more stuff has happened to me in three days than would happen in three weeks at home," Liv said speaking quickly.

"You and Harry must be tired after last night, then," said Ginny, "It's not exactly easy to sleep on the Knight Bus."

"Hey! What about us?" said Fred.

"We were out late too... not going to show concern for your own brothers!" said George.

"And after all we did last night," Fred muttered, "C'mon George, I can tell when we're not being appreciated." The two left before anyone could say anything and went to bed. Neither woke until dinner time.

"Now that you mention it," said Liv, "I am pretty tired, and still a bit jet lagged from the flight..."

"I'll get out of your way so you can sleep. Ron, Harry, out!" Ginny ordered, pushing them toward the door. Ginny looked over her shoulder and the two girls exchanged a smile before Ginny left the room closing the door behind her.

"Ron, mind if I take over your room for a bit? I'm really tired too," Harry said once the three where in the hall.

"Sure, but you have to promise to tell me all about her," Ron nodded his head toward the door, "once you wake up."

"I promise," said Harry, "Good night."

"Uh, Harry...it's about 6:30 in the morning..." said Ron, "it's not night."

"It is in America," Harry said as he climbed the stairs to Ron's room.

"Shut up," Ron said to the giggling Ginny.

**

* * *

**

"Oh good, you're here," Ginny said to Harry as he entered the living room. "I was beginning to think that this morning was just a dream...then again, there is a girl staying in my room, so I guess it really did happen"

"What time is it?" Harry said groggily as he looked to the clock on the fireplace mantle before remembering it didn't tell time.

"Mum's getting dinner ready," Ginny answered from her seat in a large, comfy chair. "You've got to be hungry; you slept through lunch...then again, so did Liv, Fred and George."

"Yeah," Harry said distractedly. "Wait, I just realized something."

"What?"

"Your father isn't here... Where is he?" Harry asked.

Ginny looked to the clock, "He's been staying at the Order's headquarters during the week and coming home for the weekends," Ginny answered. "It makes it a bit easier for him to get to work from the Order, and he's always close at hand when needed. I think it helps him keep his job at the Ministry..."

"He wouldn't have to worry about his job, at lest I think he wouldn't..." said Harry.

"True, not many wizards would take Dad's job," said Ginny, "Many wizards ridicule him for his fascination with muggles, but I think it's great that he wants to learn more about the other people in this world."

"That's a good point. Most muggles aren't that bad... but I think I understand why we don't want them to know about us," said Harry.

"Really? Why?" Ginny asked.

Harry sat down in the chair next to her, "Liv figured that my uncle is scared of my power, that's why he's always treated me so bad. Which got me thinking... if the muggle world knew about us they would be worried and would put restrictions on us, or worse," said Harry.

"Imagine the laws they'd pass..." Ginny said, thinking out loud.

"They'd be scared we'd use their power against them and try to cage us in like animals at a zoo or something," Harry said.

"No wonder the Ministry is so tough on underage wizards and whatnot. Wow, Harry, I've never thought about it that way," said Ginny.

"What are you two talking about?" Liv asked as she entered the living room.

"The Ministry of Magic," Harry answered.

"Are Fred and George still sleeping?" Ginny asked.

"I think so, their bedroom door is closed and there aren't any odd noises or explosions coming from their room," Liv said as she sat down on the couch across from Ginny and Harry.

"How are they running their store if they're here all the time?" Harry asked.

"Shush, not so loud. Their store is a sore point with Mum," said Ginny," It's unusual for them to spend this much time at home...even if it is for sleep."

"Business must be well then?" Harry asked quietly.

"Yeah, a lot of times they just stay at their store and come home for a good meal every now and then...for a while Mum wouldn't even let them in the house but they stared bringing home extra money," said Ginny.

"We've been giving them more than they know," George said as he entered the room and the conversation. "Don't tell anyone but we have been putting money in the family vault at Gringotts." George sat on the couch next to Liv.

"You have?" Ginny asked slightly shocked.

"Yeah, and maybe this year our baby sister will get brand new robes, instead of used ones," Fred said as he too entered the room and sat on the other side of Liv on the couch.

"Gee, thanks," Ginny said sarcastically, even though the thought of owning something new excited her.

"Anytime," Fred said with a smile.

"Where's Ron?" George asked, changing the subject.

"Helping Mum in the kitchen. Why?" Ginny asked suspiciously.

"No reason, just wondered why he isn't hanging out with Harry here," said George.

"Did I hear my name?" Ron said, sticking his head into the room.

"Yeah, we were just telling Liv here all your embarrassing baby stories," Fred said with a laugh.

"Mum said to tell you all that dinner is ready," Ron said his ears turning red but other wise he ignored Fred.

"Good, I'm starved," said George as he got up from the couch.

"Me too, let's eat!" Liv said as she got up as well.

George and Liv reached the doorway at the same time and George stood aside to let her through, "Ladies first."

"Why, thank you, kind sir," Liv joked with a smile. George returned her smile and followed her into the kitchen.

**

* * *

**

After dinner Ginny and Liv disappeared into Ginny's room. Fred and George had Apparated from the Burrow to their store to make sure Lee hadn't 'burned it to the ground or something.' And Harry and Ron locked themselves in Ron's room.

"Okay, we're alone. So tell me about her," said Ron.

"She's great. She's wonderful. She's really nice..." Harry said, he noticed Marty was in owl form on the top of the dresser next to Hedwig, "Come here Marty," he called out. Marty gave a hoot and flew down to Harry, hovering in the air before changing into a cat and dropping on to the bed. Hedwig watched the cat with envy as he curled up on Harry's lap.

"Bloody hell! How'd he do that?" Ron said as he came closer to the cat. "I've never seen anything like _that_ before..."

"It's Liv's cat...uh...owl, thing..." Harry answered.

"Thing?" Ron asked sceptically.

"Never mind," Harry muttered. Marty purred as Harry scratched under his chin.

"Well it seems her...er...cat likes you," Ron said.

"There's just something about her," Harry said speaking some of his previous thoughts out loud.

"She's a bit... I don't know... odd," Ron said as he sat on the bed next to Harry. "And I meant that in a good way... for lack of a better word, you know?"

"Mysterious," said Harry looking up at Ron.

"Huh?"

"Mysterious would be a better word," said Harry, Ron nodded in silent agreement. "She's so easy to talk to, and she treats me like a normal person... I feel like I've known her forever."

"You've only known her three days," Ron said sceptically.

"I know, Ron..." Harry said matter-of-factly.

"Well she seems to know a lot about you," said Ron as he snatched his twittering little owl out of the air. "Shut up you stupid bird or that cat will eat you."

"She's a great listener too," Harry continued.

"What's so mysterious about her then?" said Ron trying to hold his owl still, "I mean, if she's so easy to talk to, why is she mysterious?"

"I'm not sure...I haven't quite placed my finger on it yet," Harry said. He moved Marty off his lap, stood up, and began to pace around the room.

"It seems like, I don't know...maybe she's hiding something from you," Ron said cautiously.

Harry stopped pacing and looked at Ron, "You think?"

"From what you've told me," Ron nodded, "yes."


	6. Chapter 6

**Title:** Whisper on a Stream (6/?)  
**Author name:** darkforest214  
**Category:** Drama, Angst  
**Spoilers:** Books 1 through 5  
**Rating:** PG  
**Summary:** Um, well it's Harry's 6th year and some surprises await him (as does danger).  
**Disclaimer:** This story is based on characters and situations created and owned by JK Rowling, various publishers including but not limited to Bloomsbury Books, Scholastic Books and Raincoast Books, and Warner Bros., Inc. No money is being made and no copyright or trademark infringement is intended. Aka... I own _nothing_ (except for a few characters...my little first years and few others I won't mention just yet...)

* * *

Chapter Six

Harry was walking along a shallow stream on a bright, sunny day. He stopped when he came to a small patch of wild flowers. He was about to pick one when he heard a voice, he stopped so he could hear what the voice was saying, but all he could hear was an incoherent whisper; a whisper on a stream. Harry thought he recognized the voice, but it was too hard to tell. "I'm sorry, could you speak up?" Harry asked the voice, but before he could get his answer he was awoken by a loud snort coming from Ron.

Harry, now wide awake, looked over to Ron who was fast asleep and snoring blissfully. Unable to fall back asleep (because of the snoring) Harry grabbed his glasses and quietly crawled out of bed, slipped out of the room and crept noiselessly down the stairs.

Harry thought everyone would be in bed and asleep, after all it was 2:30 in the morning so he was shocked to find Liv sitting at the kitchen table writing in a notebook with a steaming cup of tea next to her.

"Liv?!" Harry said quietly.

"Harry!" she said, dropping her pen.

_'Odd,'_ Harry thought, _'She's using a pen instead of a quill.'_

"You startled me, I thought I was the only one awake," she said as she closed her notebook and slipped it into her shoulder bag on the floor next to her chair. "I couldn't sleep... probably shouldn't have slept so long earlier. What're you doing up?"

"Ron's snoring woke me up and I couldn't fall back asleep," said Harry.

"Hmm...you want some tea? There's some hot water left," said Liv.

"Yeah, that sounds good. No, don't get up," he said when she made to stand up, "I'll get it...thanks though."

"So, what does Ron think of me?" Liv asked curiously. "I mean, you two must have talked...he probably doesn't like me," she said more subtly.

Harry sat down at the table across from Liv with his cup of tea. "He called you odd," Harry said without thinking.

"Really?" Liv said with a laugh and no hint of being offended.

"But in a good way," Harry said quickly, "he told me he thought you were odd, but only because of the lack of a better word."

"Odd...strange, abnormal, unusual, out of the ordinary, peculiar, weird, funny..." Liv said.

"What?"

"Other words that mean odd," Liv said with a smile. "But don't worry about it, I'm not offended or anything."

"Oh," Harry said as he took a sip of his tea.

"What do you think of me?" She said after a short moment of silence. This caught Harry off guard and he nearly choked on the tea. Liv smiled slightly, "Sorry..."

"No, that's okay...I just wasn't expecting that question, that's all," said Harry.

"You don't have to answer if you don't want to," Liv said blushing slightly, her eyes downcast.

"No, that's fine...I don't mind," said Harry. "I told Ron that I thought you were, that I _think_," he corrected himself, "you are wonderful," Liv blushed, "nice, a really great person, and a bit mysterious."

"Mysterious, how so?" she said as she looked up into his eyes.

"I don't know, I'm not really sure. You're a great person with an interesting life and family, you have many talents, some of which I imagine you're not telling me about but there's just something I just can't put my finger on," Harry said. Liv smiled and looked away. "I just feel like you might be hiding something from me. Don't get me wrong, I'm not calling you a liar or anything..." Harry sighed, "I guess I just..."

"Harry," Liv said seriously, "I'm not hiding anything from you, but then again... I'm can't come right out and say what it is. It's something you have to figure out on your own," she said with a hint of sadness in her voice. She got up from the table and put her empty tea cup in the sink.

"There are too many questions in my head, why must there be one more?" Harry asked.

"I'm sorry Harry," she said... "I'd tell you, but quite frankly, I'm not sure if I know the answer to this one."

"You're just like the twins...they're always hiding something or planning something," Harry said thoughtfully. "Wait! We aren't related or anything are we?" he asked suddenly.

The sadness in her voice again and a cheery smile was once more on Liv's face. "No not at all," she said trying hard not to laugh. "I doubt it's anything that serious or dramatic." She added as an afterthought, "Don't lose any sleep over it... Goodnight Harry," she patted Harry's shoulder as she passed him to go up the stairs.

"Goodnight," he called after her. Harry finished his last bit of tea and was about to go upstairs when Liv reappeared.

"Whoops...forgot my bag," she said with a smile. She grabbed her bag and disappeared back up the stairs.

"Maybe Ron was right...she is odd," Harry said to himself. He got up and went upstairs, when he reached landing to the floor Ginny's room was on he heard muffled voices coming from Fred and George's room. They must not be able to sleep either. Harry thought and he continued on up the stairs.

Harry crawled back in bed, covered his head with his pillow and settled in for another sleepless night...

Meanwhile in Fred and George's room the two were awake and talking.

"Just go to sleep, George," Fred said.

"I can't," George said fidgeting slightly in his bed.

"Then get her out of your head." Fred's voice sounded slightly annoyed.

"I can't do that either."

"I doubt she feels the same, I mean, she and Harry seem pretty close," Fred said convincingly.

"I don't know...there's just something about her," George said as he stared hopelessly at the ceiling.

"So I've heard," mumbled Fred.

"What?"

"Nothing, just something I've overheard on the ole' Extendable Ears," Fred said with a shrug of his shoulders, which was a bit difficult to do when one is lying on his side in bed.

"What else have you heard?" George asked as he sat up in his bed, leaning on his elbow he looked across the dark room towards the grey blob that was his brother.

Fred sat up also and looked across the room, "Ron thinks she's weird, Harry thinks she's mysterious and Ginny likes her and enjoys the company of another girl in the house," Fred said in a somewhat monotone voice. "Oh, and we're having chicken tomorrow night for dinner," Fred added with a laugh.

"Mmm I like chicken...Wait a minute! Ron thinks Liv is weird?"

"Well, he didn't use the word 'weird'..."Fred said his voice trailing off.

"Then what word did he use?" George said sternly.

"Odd, but only for the lack of a better word," Fred said hesitantly.

"That's not too bad, why didn't you tell me that in the first place?" George asked.

"Because I want you to forget about her and go to sleep. We're not going to sleep in all day tomorrow... we have a business to run," Fred said as he fell back on his pillow.

"Right, the store..." George muttered as he too laid back down into bed. "I just...I just wonder how she feels?" George said to himself.

"Why don't you just have a listen sometime?" Fred replied irritably.

* * *

"Good morning, Mum, morning Harry," Fred said cheerfully as he and George entered the kitchen for breakfast the next morning.

"G'morning Liv," George said as he smiled at her.

"Good morning, George... sleep well?" she said with a smile.

"Wonderful. And good morning to you, Little Sis," George said cheerfully.

"What about me? I don't get a 'good morning' too?" Ron said indignantly.

"No, Little Bro, you don't get a 'good morning,'" said Fred as he moved to stand behind Ron's chair. "You just get a great big hug!"

Ron tried to duck out of the way but was too late. Fred had him in a head lock. "Lemme go, Fred, get off!" Ron said as he tried to squirm out of Fred's grip.

"Quick, George, tickle him!" Fred said as he struggled to keep Ron's head in check.

"No, don't tickle him! Fred let him go!" Mrs Weasley said sternly as she glared at the twins.

"And spoil the fun?" said Fred, still holding on.

"Let him go," she said sharply.

"Fine," Fred muttered as he let go of Ron, messed up his hair and went around to the table to sit next to George. Ron rubbed his neck, flattened his hair (or at least tried to) and glared at Fred from across the table.

"Why are you two in such a good mood this morning?" Harry asked somewhat grumpily. He hadn't been able to fall back asleep after talking with Liv and had spent the rest of the night throwing things at Ron to try and get him to stop snoring.

"No reason..." Fred said slyly as he gave Harry a wink.

"Yeah, we've just got a busy day ahead of us," George said with a grin.

"A busy day of doing nothing, nowhere," Fred added quickly when their mother turned and glared at them.

"Just eat your breakfast," Mrs. Weasley said as she placed a plate of bacon on the table in front of Harry. "Eat up, Harry, you're too skinny. Don't those relatives of yours feed you?"

Harry and Liv exchanged looks. They both knew that most of the food went to Dudley.

After breakfast Fred and George disappeared up the stairs and Harry heard a muffled 'pop' as they Dissapperated. Harry and Ron went up to Ron's room while Ginny and Liv helped Mrs. Weasley around the house.

"Your snoring is going to be a problem," Harry muttered.

"Is it really that bad? I always thought Fred and George were exaggerating," said Ron.

"Yeah, it's that bad...you woke me up last night and I couldn't fall back asleep."

"Oh, sorry," Ron muttered.

"No, it's okay," Harry said with a sigh, "I usually can't sleep anyway." Harry sat down on the bed and stared out the window. "I've had maybe one good night's sleep since–" Harry cut himself off. Ron watched him nervously, not knowing what Harry's reaction would be. He sighed again and continued, "–since Sirius went through the veil," he said, choking slightly on the words.

Ron didn't know what to say and an awkward silence filled the room. Ron was worried that whatever he said would make Harry either angry or extremely sad..

"Harry, I... I'm sorry," Ron muttered.

"About what?" Harry said, his voice sounding slightly depressed.

"I'm sorry that I don't know what to say, and I'm sorry that I can't comfort you or...or make you feel better," said Ron speaking cautiously and choosing his words carefully. "I'd like to say 'I know what you're going through,' and that whole line of comfort, but I don't... You were there for me when I almost lost my dad. Now all I can do is be here for you." Ron looked up from the floor and at Harry.

Harry was no longer staring out the window but was looking at Ron with a sad smile. "Thanks, Ron. That's all I could ever ask for," he said quietly. He gave a small laugh, "Can you imagine what Hermione would say if she had just heard what you said?"

"She'd never believe it," Ron said with a small smile. "She would call you a liar and probably say that you _thought_ you heard me say something like that..."

"Who said I'd ever tell her? Let's keep this between you and me," Harry said with a smile.

"Sounds like a plan to me," said Ron, looking relieved.

"If word ever got out that you're a sensitive guy all the girls at Hogwarts would swarm to you," Harry joked.

"I doubt that," said Ron, but his ears had turned slightly red as he looked down at his feet.

Harry smiled and turned to look out the window. In the distance he thought he could see an owl flying toward the house. "Hey Ron?"

"Yeah?" said Ron, looking up.

"Is that Errol?" Harry asked.

Ron got up and moved toward the window. "Yeah, I think so. It's not flying in a straight line...that bird is getting old," he muttered.

"He was old when I first met you, now he's ancient," Harry said.

"I'm surprised he hasn't kicked the bucket yet... Mum thinks he's going blind, that's why he always runs into things. But that bird must have been born blind. He's been running into stuff since I can remember..."

"Let's go downstairs and see what he has, maybe it's from Hermione," Harry suggested. The two went downstairs and entered the kitchen.

"Hey Harry, Ron...what's up?" Ginny asked.

"We saw Errol heading this way," Ron said.

"Maybe he has our Hogwarts letters," Ginny said as she looked out the window above the sink.

As Errol flew closer Ron advised everyone to avoid the windows. And soon the old bird flew right into the wall next to the window Ginny had been looking out moments before. All four of them cringed at the sound and Ginny went to collect the owl and mail.

"Is he going to be alright?" Liv asked looking concerned.

"Yeah, he'll be fine. That bloody bird has been flying into walls for years," Ron answered somewhat bitterly. Liv thought she heard him mutter, "Why is all our stuff a bunch of rubbish?"

"Who is the letter from?" Harry asked.

"It's from Dumbledore, I recognize the handwriting on the outside of the envelope, it's even got the Hogwart's seal," Ginny said. "But I don't think it's our book list, it's too thin."

"Who's it for?" Ron asked.

"It says 'To the Weasley Family, Mr. Harry Potter, and Miss Olivia James' It's for all of us I guess," she replied with a shrug.

"Let's open it then!" Ron insisted.

"Maybe we should let Mum open it," said Ginny.

"She's right, you know," Harry muttered.

"Fine, fine, let's take it to Mum," Ron mumbled. "Where is she anyway?"

"Out in the garden," said Liv.

"Which reminds me," Ginny said as the boys started to leave the kitchen. Ron stopped in the doorway, "Mum said if we saw you two to tell you that the gnomes are getting out of hand again..."

"She can use magic to get rid of them! What does she need us to do it for?" Ron complained loudly.

"Because it's good exercise...or something," Liv said with a shrug. "C'mon, lets go show this to your mom."

"Nope, na-huh you never saw us. Harry, let's escape while we still can," Ron said quickly.

"Boys? Is that you? Boys, come on out here!" Mrs. Weasley called from outside.

"We may not have seen you, but Mum has the ears of a fox," Ginny laughed. "Out you go!" Ginny and Liv pushed Ron through the door, Harry went more willingly.

"I thought I heard your voices, could you help with the yard work? You can de-gnome the garden," said Mrs. Weasley.

"Why can't you make Fred and George do it? They can use magic," Ron complained.

"Because they're not home, now are they?" she said more sternly.

"No...they aren't here," Ron said quietly. The twins and their store was a bit of a touchy subject with their mother. She was absolutely furious with them after they left school that she wouldn't let them in the house. They ended up living in the apartment above their store until they came back to apologize. They didn't want the same relationship with their parents that their older brother Percy had.

"Mum," Ginny said breaking the slight tension, "Errol just brought this. We thought you should open it."

Mrs. Weasley took off her gardening gloves and took the letter from Ginny. "Thank you, dear," she said as she broke the seal and pulled out the letter, smiling as she read it.

"Professor Dumbledore has suggested a meeting between the exchange students and their host families, and later, possibly a party so they can meet some of their new professors," said Mrs. Weasley.

"Will Hermione be there?" Ron asked somewhat eagerly.

"Yes dear," said Mrs. Weasley.

"Some of the professors...does it say which ones?" Harry asked, hoping Snape wouldn't be one of them there.

"No, it doesn't specify who, dear, probably some order members," said Mrs. Weasley.

"Oh," Harry's heart sank. Professor Snape was in the order.

"Where's it going to be?" Ron asked.

"The meeting? The Leaky Cauldron on the day the other student's train gets in. It'll be a quick lunch sort of thing. I don't know where the party will be, could you imagine how Mrs. Black would react to having muggles in her house?" Mrs. Weasley joked.

"It's not her house," Harry said quietly.

"What's that dear?" Mrs. Weasley said as she slipped the letter into the pocket of her apron.

"It's not her house...it belongs to Sirius," Harry said louder.

"Right..." Mrs. Weasley said softly. Nobody said anything for a while and Ron nervously shifted his weight from one leg to the other and then back again.

"Uh...Ginny...wasn't there um, something you wanted to show me?" Liv said breaking the uncomfortable silence.

"Oh, yeah...it's um...its inside," Ginny replied. The two went back into the house and Mrs. Weasley put her gardening gloves back on.

"Well, don't just stand there boys! Start de-gnoming the garden," said Mrs. Weasley.

* * *

"So the Order fights evil and defends all that's good?" Liv said after Ginny had refreshed her memory on exactly what the Order of the Phoenix was.

"Exactly," said Ginny with a smile, "You're a quick learner."

"Ha! That's what you think," Liv laughed.

"Don't say stuff like that about yourself...you're a great person," said Ginny, still smiling.

"Are you a motivational speaker?" Liv joked.

"No!" Ginny said quickly.

"Don't put yourself down."

"Okay, now you're just mocking me! I try and tell you about something serious and important and you turn it into a joke," Ginny laughed.

"Sorry, I can be serious and dull if you want. Just tell me when and I'll start reciting facts from books," Liv threatened. She knelt down at her trunk and pulled out her guitar and sat on the bed.

"If only Fred and George were more like you. Joke about anything, yet still get good grades," said Ginny. "Wait! What's that?"

"The reason I don't get good grades," Liv laughed, "It's my guitar."

"I know what it is...I meant, where'd you get it?"

"I pulled it out of my trunk," she said as she strummed a few chords. "Ick! It's horribly out of tune!"

"How'd you fit it in your trunk?"

"Ginny, you should know the answer to that... magic of course!" Liv smiled.

"Oh."

"Just let me tune it, and get out my amp and I'll play a song or two for ya," Liv laughed.

Liv had just plugged her guitar into her amp when Harry and Ron came to the door.

"Are you gonna play?" Harry asked, forgetting the reason they had come upstairs in the first place.

"Are you and Ron done in the garden?" Liv asked as she absentmindedly picked at the strings.

"Yeah, well until the gnomes come back..." said Harry.

'Crack' George appeared in the middle of Ginny's bedroom. "Looks like you're having a party in here," he joked.

"Have you come to be our entertainment?" asked Liv as she continued to pick at the strings.

"Nah, I cam to see how our hostages are doing," said George.

"Hostages?" Harry asked.

"Well we did kidnap you two..."

"Good point," laughed Liv.

"Why don't you go back to work then, you can see they're okay," said Ron sarcastically.

"I also came to see if Harry and Liv wanted to come see our store," said George, looking hopefully at Harry, then Liv.

"Today probably isn't the best day," said Ginny.

"How about when we get our Hogwarts' letters?" Harry suggested.

"I don't think Mum would let us anywhere near Fred and George's store," said Ron.

"Which is a pity," said George, "we've got some good stuff..."

"Good, 'cause I expect the best from my _little_ investment," said Harry quietly.

"Of course! You would get the 'family discount,'" said George.

"Since when are you giving us a discount?" asked Ginny.

"Yeah, when I asked for a Swamp Box you said 'NO'...or maybe that was Fred..." said Ron, thinking out loud.

"You wanted something for free, we don't do that..." said George.

"Except when you're testing products," mumbled Ginny.

"We test most of our products on ourselves," said George defiantly.

"Or my unsuspecting cousin," said Harry with a smug smile.

"Yeah, that was great...oh the memories. Too bad we didn't meet up with your cousin while we were kidnapping you two..." said George, a goofy grin on his face.

"Lunch is ready!" Mrs. Weasley's voice floated up from downstairs.

"Well, I better get going, time is money," said George before he Dissapperated with a loud 'pop'.

"Why was George here?" Mrs. Weasley questioned as they entered the kitchen for lunch.

"How did you know?" Liv asked curiously.

"Check out the clock in the living room, above the fireplace... it doesn't tell time, it tells where each of the Weasleys are," said Harry.

"I saw that he was home while I was dusting in the living room," said Mrs. Weasley.

"Oh," muttered Liv.

"He came to see how we were doing," said Ron.

"I think he came to see Liv," Ginny muttered. Liv blushed and Harry pretended that he hadn't heard that. "Liv you're blushing!" said Ginny with a laugh, Liv turned redder and looked away. "I was just joking, dose this mean you–?"

"Drop it Ginny, we can talk about it later," said Liv in a harsh whisper. Harry overheard them and felt his stomach flip. '_Since when is Liv interested in George?'_ he thought, but he soon returned his attention to his meal and whatever it was Ron was talking to him about.


	7. Chapter 7

**Title:** Whisper on a Stream (7/?)   
**Author name:** darkforest214   
**Category:** Drama, Angst   
**Spoilers:** Books 1 through 5   
**Rating:** PG   
**Summary:** Um, well it's Harry's 6th year and some surprises await him (as does danger).   
**Disclaimer:** This story is based on characters and situations created and owned by JK Rowling, various publishers including but not limited to Bloomsbury Books, Scholastic Books and Raincoast Books, and Warner Bros., Inc. No money is being made and no copyright or trademark infringement is intended. Aka... I own _nothing_ (except for a few characters...my little first years and few others I won't mention just yet...)

* * *

Chapter Seven

    The rest of the week passed without to many incidences. Fred and George went to their store everyday while Ginny, Harry, Ron and Liv continued to help Mrs. Weasley out around the house. Not much happened until Friday night, when Mr. Weasley came home from work (and headquarters).   
    Mr. Weasley walked into the living room and immediately noticed two children that weren't his own. "Harry! Harry, it's good to see you again," he said.   
"Dad!" said Ginny excitedly as she ran up to him and gave him hug.   
    "I've missed you too," he said, embracing his youngest child and only daughter. After setting Ginny down he turned to Fred and George, "You two have been staying out of trouble...I hope."   
    "Of course!" said Fred.   
    "Why would _we_ cause trouble?" said George, making Harry laugh.   
    "Come here, Ron," said Mr. Weasley, ignoring the twins' remarks. Ron stood up and gave his father a hug. "Your snoring isn't keeping Harry awake, now is it?" Ron didn't answer, his ears turned red, causing Liv to laugh this time. Mr. Weasley turned to Liv, "I'm sorry, but...who are you?" he asked.   
    "I'm Olivia, one of the exchange students," she said as she crossed the room to shake his hand.   
    "Oh! Well, Olivia, Dumbledore has told me quite a bit about you!" said Mr. Weasley as he took her hand in his.   
    "All good things, I hope," said Liv shyly.   
    "He told me you know a lot about muggles–"   
    "Arthur, you must be hungry," interrupted Mrs. Weasley.   
    "Maybe some other time then... Yes dear, I'm starved. One of the things I miss most while being away is your cooking," said Mr. Weasley as he followed her into the kitchen.   
    "Mum just saved you," said Fred.   
    "Yeah, Dad would have asked you a million questions," said George.   
    "Dad's fascinated with muggles," said Ron.   
    "Don't let him see you with your guitar... he'll want to borrow it so he could take it apart to see how it works," said Ginny.   
    "Whoa! Too many red heads speaking at once!" Liv joked. "How bad can it be? Your dad seems really nice."   
    "He is really nice, he's just obsessed with muggles," said Ginny.   
    "The first summer I spent here he always had me sit next to him at meals," said Harry. "And he'd always be asking me about different muggle objects, such as the postal service and plugs."   
    "Plugs?" asked Liv.   
    "He collects them," said Fred.   
    Mrs. Weasley re-entered the living room. She sat down in a chair next to Liv. "Olivia dear, Arthur and I were talking and your brother's train comes in tomorrow around noon. We plan on going to meet him and the Grangers tomorrow for lunch.   
    "Seriously!?" Liv exclaimed and Mrs. Weasley nodded. "That would be amazing! It feels like I haven't seen him in _months!"   
    _"Good, then it's settled. We'll all go down to the train station to meet them," said Mrs. Weasley.   
    "Even us?" asked Fred.   
    "You'll be too busy, you do have a business to look after," said Mrs. Weasley, a hint of resentment in her voice.   
    "Good point," muttered George, "Saturday is a good day for business..."   
    "Just because I mentioned it, doesn't mean you need to talk about it in front of me," Mrs. Weasley snapped.   
    "But how are we going to get there?" asked Harry.   
    "Not the Knight Bus, I hope," said Liv.   
    "No, not at all... that bus makes one dreadfully queasy," said Mrs. Weasley. "Arthur has arrangements for a car from the Ministry."   
    "The Ministry is helping you guys again?" asked Harry.   
    "Yes, ever since that night, with...when..."   
    "That's okay, I know the night," Harry cut her off.   
    "Well it seems like they're trying to make up for what happened. They've certainly started treating us better, giving Arthur a raise," said Mrs. Weasley.   
    "And the Daily Prophet has stopped calling Harry an attention seeking liar," said Ron.   
    "That's right, and they've printed on numerous occasions that they were sorry for calling Harry and Dumbledore liars," said Ginny.   
    "It's getting kind of late, maybe you all ought to go to bed," said Mrs. Weasley in a tone of voice that said she was telling them, not asking.   
    "Hurry, Liv, hide!" Fred joked as they went upstairs.   
    "Yeah, Dad's almost done eating," added George.

* * *

    "I don't know how I'm suppose to sleep now... knowing that I get to see my brother tomorrow," Liv said to Ginny as the two girls got ready for bed.   
    "Just try and get _some_ sleep," said Ginny with a smile.   
    "You'll like my brother," said Liv as she crawled into bed. "I just know it... in fact, I think he'll like you too..."   
    "Goodnight, Liv," said Ginny. Good thing the room was dark; otherwise Liv would have seen Ginny blushing.

* * *

    "How am I supposed to sleep knowing that we're going to see Hermione tomorrow?" Ron asked Harry as he lay on his back staring at the ceiling in the dark.   
    "Just try and get some sleep," said Harry calmly, even though his mind was going a mile a minute. Hermione would meet Liv; everyone would meet Liv's brother and best friends would be reunited...if only for a few hours.   
    "What do you think Liv's brother is like?" asked Ron, bringing Harry out of his thoughts.   
    "I wouldn't be too worried if I were you Ron," said Harry, "as long as he doesn't mind your snoring," he muttered.   
    "I heard that," said Ron. "You know... I was thinking about this and I found it doesn't make sense."   
    "Thinking about what? What doesn't make sense?" asked Harry. "It would be nice if I knew what you were talking about _before_ you start asking me questions," said Harry sarcastically.   
    "Liv is a girl, why was she sent to your house? Why would Dumbledore send a sixteen-year-old to live with two teenage boys all summer?" asked Ron.   
    "I don't know, maybe–"   
    "I'm not finished," interrupted Ron. "Liv's brother is being sent to Hermione's house... but why? He's a boy, she's a girl. Wouldn't it have made more sense to send Liv to Hermione's and send her brother to your aunt and uncle's?"   
    "Maybe there was a mix-up, we could always send Liv home with Hermione tomorrow, but that would be unfair to Ginny," said Harry sarcastically. "You know, Ron, you present an interesting question... we could always ask Dumbledore next week..."   
    "He would probably give us one of those riddle like answers... and we both know how I am with riddles," said Ron.   
    "Let's just say it's not one of your strong points," said Harry. "Let's not dwell on it, we should get some sleep."   
    "Goodnight, Harry," said Ron as he rolled onto his side.   
    "Goodnight...oh and, Ron?"   
    "Yeah, Harry?"   
    "Try not to snore..."

* * *

    Harry was walking along the same stream he had walked along countless nights before. "Harry...Harry," the whispering voice called out. Harry stared into the water and strained his ears to hear. But the only thing he heard was his name.   
    "What? What is it?" Harry asked the voice. But before the voice could answer something jumped on him, waking him up. _'Please don't be Dobby, please don't be Dobby...'_ thought Harry before opening his eyes. Slowly he opened them and squinted against the sunlight coming into the room.   
    "Liv?" said Harry as he looked up, blurry eyed, into the face of a dog. She tilted her head sideways and whined softly. "Morning, Liv." Liv jumped down off of Harry's bed and jumped up onto Ron's. Harry rolled over and grabbed his glasses, putting them on in time to see Liv let out a sharp bark.   
    "What?!" said Ron as he was startled awake. "Whoa!"   
    "It's just Liv... time to get up," said Harry. "A bit anxious are you?" Harry asked Liv. She barked once before turning and running out of the room.   
    "A bit odd..." muttered Ron.   
    "No, she's just excited," said Harry.   
    "Right," said Ron sarcastically. Just then Marty flew into the room through the open window. "I didn't know he left," muttered Ron.   
    "What ya got there Marty?" asked Harry as he sat on the bed so Marty could curl up in his lap. The black owl jumped over to Harry. "Liv just left..."   
    "Maybe it's for you," suggested Ron.   
    "Oh..." Harry took the envelope from Marty's beak. Once he had, Marty turned into a cat and crawled up into Harry's lap.   
    "What's that?" asked Ron."I don't know...haven't opened it yet," said Harry. He opened the envelope and found not a letter, but a set of pictures.   
    "Well?"   
    "They're pictures," said Harry as he flipped through them. "Liv is in some of them...but I'm not sure who some of the other people are. I think this is her brother, he's in almost all of them."   
    "Either that or it's her boyfriend from back home," Ron joked. He crossed the room and sat next to Harry to look at the pictures. "They aren't moving!"   
    "Muggle photos don't move," said Harry matter-of-factly.   
    "Hey look, there's writing on the back," Ron said as he picked up a picture Harry had just dropped.   
    "What does it say?" asked Harry.   
    "'Ollie and Ty's 16th Birthday, February 25th,'" read Ron. "Ollie?"   
    "That's Tyler's nickname for Liv," said Harry as he took the picture from Ron. he looked at the picture and there was Liv smiling up at him, her arm over her brother's shoulder. Her brother was smiling too as he stood with his arm around her waist.   
    "You've seen the pictures, now get dressed!" said Liv as she reappeared standing in the doorway.   
    "So that's your brother?" asked Ron.   
    "Yes, no hurry up! The sooner you guys get dressed, the sooner we can leave," she said anxiously.   
    "Sure, be down in a bit... but I can't decide what to wear," said Harry speaking slowly. "I was thinking, maybe this shirt with these pants... What do you think?" he asked holding out an outfit that didn't match at all.   
    "Just make sure you have either Fred or George pop over to the Dursley's so you can borrow Dudley's polka dot bow tie," said Liv sarcastically before going back downstairs.   
    "You're not going to wear that are you?" asked Ron, looking horrified.   
    "No, I was just kidding," laughed Harry. "You can tell she's really anxious and excited," said Harry as he set the pictures on Ron's desk.   
    "She and her brother must be really close," said Ron.   
    "From what she's told me they're as close as Fred and George... or even us and Hermione," Harry added as an afterthought.   
    "That's right! We get to see Hermione!" said Ron excitedly. "C'mon, Harry, hurry up and get dressed!"   
    Harry laughed as Ron quickly started to dig through his dresser drawers.   
    "Hurry up!" Liv's voice drifted up the stairs. Harry laughed and got dressed.

* * *

    The car pulled into the parking lot around 11:30 in the morning. "And you were worried about being late," said Harry sarcastically.   
    "We're not late, are we?" Fred asked as he and George appeared in the car as everyone was climbing out.   
    "Fred! George! What are you two doing here?" asked Mrs. Weasley looking slightly shocked at their abrupt appearance.   
    "But who's going to look after your store?" asked Liv.   
    "Lee is taking care of things for us," said George.   
    "Don't worry, Mum. We're just here to meet Liv's brother, then we'll be gone," said Fred before Mrs. Weasley could protest.   
    "As long as you don't plan on coming to lunch with us... then I guess it's all right," said Mrs. Weasley.   
    "That'll be great! I'd _love_ for you guys to meet Tyler," said Liv.   
    "Well, let's not just stand around out here in the parking lot," said Harry. "Let's go inside."   
    "Maybe we'll find Hermione," said Ron.   
    "Oh yeah, real subtle, Little Bro," Fred muttered sarcastically so only Liv and George could hear.   
    "Do you know what platform his train is coming in?" George asked Liv.   
    "Probably the same one I came in," said Liv, "Platform nine."   
    "Platform nine?" asked Fred. "That's not far from platform nine and three-quarters."   
    "Nine and three-quarters?" asked Liv.   
    "You'll get to see it later," said Ginny quietly.   
    "Keep a sharp eye out, we wouldn't want to miss them," said Mr. Weasley as he looked around in amazement at their surroundings.   
    The large group sat on a bench, well most of them sat, near platform nine to wait for the train to come in. Harry was nervous about meeting the other exchange student, but he was also excited about seeing Hermione again. She could be annoying at times but all is forgiven when you're away from your best friends and stuck with your nightmare of a cousin for the summer.   
    "Liv, look! The train is coming in!" said Ginny all of a sudden.   
    "Wow! The muggle trains are running on time! Fascinating!" said Mr. Weasley excitedly.   
    Liv stood anxiously on the platform with Harry and Ginny at her side as she tried to see the faces through the tinted windows of the train. She watched as one by one people stepped off the train when Harry suddenly disappeared from her side.   
    "Hermione!" he said as he ran to see his friend.   
    Liv returned her attention to the people getting off the train with a laugh. Just then she spotted her brother. "Tyler! Ty over here!" she called out as she moved as quickly as possible through the crowd to greet her brother.   
    "Ollie!" The boy called out. The travel worn, tousle haired boy set down his cat carrier and trunk so he could hug his twin sister.   
    "It really sucks being away from you," Tyler said as he held on tight to his sister.   
    "Who cares, we're together again..."   
    "And ready to cause trouble?" Ty asked sceptically.   
    "Mum sent us to round you all up," said Fred as he and George approached them.   
    "Yeah, Harry and Ron scattered when they saw Hermione. And you ran off so fast you left poor Ginny all alone," said George.   
    "Oops..." Liv muttered quietly. She picked up her brother's cat carrier and looked into it. "Hello, Sammy," she said softly. The cat meowed and rubbed her orange face up against the bars.   
    "C'mon, let's go meet up with everyone else," said Fred.   
    "I'm sure they're just dying to meet you," said George.   
    "I think I'm getting confused," said Tyler.   
    Liv laughed, "Really? I can tell them apart," she said with a shrug.   
    "No way!" said Fred.   
    "We don't believe you," said George.   
    "Oh c'mon, it's really easy..." said Liv.   
    "What do you mean?" asked Fred.   
    "You're Fred," she said pointing to the twin that had just spoke, "and you're George," she said as she smiled at him.   
    "Okay, so you can tell us apart...but what if we got all mixed up and—" said Fred.   
    "Liv, Liv come here," Harry called as they approached Harry, Ron and Hermione. "Liv, I want you to meet Hermione. Hermione, this is Liv."   
    "Hello, it's nice to meet you," said Hermione.   
    "It's great to finally meet you too. Harry has told me _so much _about you," said Liv with a smile.   
    "Really? 'Cause I haven't heard a _thing_ about you," Hermione replied sarcastically as she glared at Harry; who sheepishly looked down at the ground.   
    "Is this–?" asked Harry.   
    "Oh, sorry... Harry, this is Tyler. Ty, that's Harry," said Liv.   
    "Hello," said Ty, sounding somewhat nervous.   
    "Hi," said Harry.   
    "All right, now that everybody knows everyone else, let's go meet up with the rest of the family," said George. The twins had been so unusually quiet that their presence had been forgotten.   
    "Mum, Mum we found them," Fred called out as they neared Mr. and Mrs. Weasley, Ginny and Mr. and Mrs. Granger.   
    "Uh, Tyler, these are my parents," said Hermione as she pointed out the two 'normally' dressed adults. "They're muggles," she said quietly.   
    After more introductions had been made they made plans to meet at the Leaky Cauldron for lunch and the large group divided up and headed to the cars.   
    Fred and George returned to their store but not without trying to sell some stuff to Tyler, but after receiving glares from both their mother and Hermione (and giggles from Liv and Ginny) they gave up.

* * *

    Olivia and Tyler went with Hermione and her parents, leaving Ginny, Ron and Harry with Mr. and Mrs. Weasley. In the Granger car Hermione was learning more about the two exchange students and about life as a teenage American witch and wizard. While in the Weasley car there was mostly talk about Tyler. So far his first impression was good. Mr. and Mrs. Weasley seemed to like him (already) and Harry couldn't help but wonder what kind of trouble they would get into this year.   
    "Won't it be odd bringing two muggles into the Leaky Cauldron?" Harry asked as Mr. Weasley parked the car across the street from the run down looking pub.   
    "Oh, I wouldn't worry about it too much, they've been there before," said Mr. Weasley cheerfully. "That and their daughter is one of the best and brightest students at Hogwarts."   
    "You don't have to rub it in," mumbled Ron.   
    "She'll probably be Head girl next year," said Ginny.   
    "Yeah, with Harry as Head Boy," said Ron.   
    "I hope not," said Harry quickly.   
    "Why not? Your father was Head Boy," said Mrs. Weasley.   
    "Ron would make a better Head Boy than I would," said Harry. He didn't have to look at Ron to know that his ears had turned red. Mrs. Weasley didn't say anything but Harry thought for sure that she was swelling with pride.   
    "Just don't let Fred and George hear you say that..." Ginny whispered so only Harry could hear.   
    "Well, here we are," said Mr. Weasley as he got out of the car went around to the other side and held the door open for his wife.   
    "Fred and George aren't coming?" asked Hermione, sounding hopeful as she got out of the car and came toward the Weasleys.   
    "No," answered Liv, "They're uh... they're working," she said quietly so Mrs. Weasley wouldn't hear.   
    "Don't worry, lunch will be peaceful," said Harry.   
    "If not somewhat boring," muttered Ginny.   
    "Why would you say that?" asked Tyler, he didn't really know the nature of the twins, having just met them.   
    "They're the life of the party," said Ginny.   
    "And the cause of many of them back at school," said Ron.   
    "Who's going to throw parties and sneak food up from the kitchens now that they're gone?" asked Harry.   
    "Hopefully there won't _be _any parties this year. They're loud, distracting, and they leave a lot of work for the house elves," said Hermione. Ron groaned and Harry silently agreed with him; they didn't want Hermione to start lecturing about S.P.E.W.   
    "What are we standing around out here for?" Mrs. Weasley asked. "Let's get inside."   
    Everyone entered the dumpy little café and had o stand in the doorway for a moment or two to let their eyes adjust to the dim, candle lit room.   
    "My, my, what a large group!" said Tom, the bartender. "Cutting through to Diagon Alley?"   
    "No, not today, we're here for lunch," said Mrs. Weasley.   
    "Oh, good! Go ahead and pick a table or two, here, let me help you move that," said Tom as Mr. Weasley and Mr. Granger started to push some of the smaller tables together. "Will you be needing menus or are you ready to order?" he asked once everyone was settled; adults at one end and the students at the other.   
    "We'll need menus please," said Mrs. Weasley.   
    Once everyone had ordered they settled down to talk while they waited for their food. Harry, Liv, Ginny and Tyler were engaged in a deep conversation and Hermione took this as a chance to speak alone with Ron.   
    "Ron, she whispered, getting his attention. "How is Harry handling things?" She looked cautiously over at Harry to see if he had heard.   
    "I don't, know," said Ron.   
    "What?"   
    "There was only once when Sirius was mentioned and it barely fazed him," said Ron. "I thought for sure that he would be gloomier or moodier... or something..."   
    "How has he been if he's not moody?"   
    "He seems... I don't know... happy," said Ron.   
    _"Happy?"_ said Hermione. She was slightly shocked, "But he was anything but happy a few weeks ago... we could barely talk to him!"   
    "I know, I know," said Ron quickly, "But he either talked to someone since then, or he's completely pushed it out of his mind."   
    Hermione looked over at Harry; who was watching avidly as Liv spoke. She thought she caught a glimpse of a familiar look in his eyes. Familiar because she had seen him look at Cho Chang that way, but only once before; When Harry liked her, but knew he couldn't have her.   
    "Do you think talked about it with Liv?" asked Hermione.   
    "He could of. He told me that they talked a lot those few days they spent together at his aunt and uncle's house...before Fred and George came for them," said Ron.   
    "Do you think you could find out?"   
    "Oh that'll be a cheery conversation," he said sarcastically, "so, Harry, talk to anyone about your dead godfather lately?"   
    "Shh, he might hear you," scolded Hermione. "I meant, could you ask Liv? She might tell you."   
    "Why don't you ask her? You're a girl."   
    "But she's staying at your house!"   
    "Aww, look at the two love birds, deep in a private conversation," teased Ginny. The others laughed but Hermione blushed slightly and looked down at her hands in her lap while Ron's ears turned red.   
    "What are you two talking about?" Harry asked as he tore his eyes off Liv.   
    "We were just arguing about house elves," said Ron, thinking fast. Hermione nodded her head in agreement.   
    "Okay," said Ginny, but her tone said that she didn't believe them. Ron just glared at her.   
    "Sorry it took so long," said Tom as he crossed through the nearly empty pub. "Such a large group, and a rather large order. Who ordered the pea soup?" He made several trips but soon everyone had their lunch in front of them.   
    While they were eating a man wearing a black cloak entered the pub from muggle London. He kept his hood up and walked over to the bar. Harry thought he saw the cloaked head turn his way, but it was too hard to tell.   
    "Fire whiskey," the man ordered in a gruff voice. The bartender moved quickly so as not to upset this mysterious customer.   
    "Would you like anything else, sir?" asked Tom as he handed him his drink. The man must have glared at him from under the hood because Tom turned and left him alone.   
    Harry was enticed by the strange man's actions; he couldn't help but stare. Hermione noticed he was staring and nudged him in the ribs. Harry was then able to look away and continue eating, but he still kept an eye on the stranger.   
    Either the stranger had felt Harry's eyes staring at his back, or he just wanted a more comfortable seat because he got up and reached out a thin, pale hand for his drink. A shudder ran down Harry's spine and he tensed as once more the opening in the hood turned his way. The man moved to a dark corner of the bar and sat at an empty table, disappearing into the shadows.   
    Hermione nudged Harry again, "Who do you think that was?" she asked quietly.   
    "Or _what_?" asked Ron.   
    "My thoughts exactly," said Harry. Remembering the pale, bony hand that had reached out for the glass, he shuddered once more. He thought of the gruff voice, the harshness of it, and the way the stranger behaved... "Oww," he moaned suddenly. He reached up to his forehead and rubbed his scar, trying to dull the pain.   
    "Scar?" asked Hermione worriedly. Ron looked nervously at the others at the table, luckily they hadn't noticed, otherwise Mrs. Weasley would have insisted on going home immediately.   
    "You don't think You-Know-Who is near... do you?" Ron asked cautiously.   
    "Don't be ridiculous, Ron," snapped Hermione. "Why would—?"   
    "No, it wasn't strong enough for him to be near," said Harry.   
    "You don't think it was that guy in the cloak, do you?" said Ron.   
    "I-I don't know. It hasn't hurt much since... since before Sirius..." said Harry, his voice trailing off.   
    Hermione and Ron exchanged looks, Harry had mentioned Sirius. Neither one said anything, but they didn't have to. Harry knew they were being careful when it came to issues involving Sirius.   
    "Are you three done?" asked Mrs. Weasley, breaking the tense moment without realizing it.   
    "Uh, yeah... I've lost my appetite," muttered Harry as he glanced toward the dark corner. While Mr. Weasley and Mr. Granger were paying for lunch Harry thought he saw the figure lean forward, as if thinking about getting up.   
    "C'mon, Harry," said Liv, "What're you waiting for?"   
    "Nothing," he said as he looked toward the door where Liv was waiting. "Where is everyone?"   
    "They're outside already. Now, c'mon before they leave without us."   
    "Don't worry, they won't," Harry said more to himself than to Liv. He walked slowly toward the door, trying to resist the temptation to look back at the cloaked figure.   
    "Ollie, I wanna say goodbye," Tyler called out.   
    "I'm coming, keep your pants on," she replied sarcastically as she and Harry crossed the street.   
    "I'll see you in a week, Ollie," said Tyler when she was next to him.   
    "Behave yourself, Ty... stay out of trouble," said Liv with a smile as she locked her brother in a suffocating hug.   
    "Ollie! Ollie let go... I can't breathe!" Tyler gasped.   
    "What, tighter? Okay!"   
    "Ollie no!" Tyler started tickling her in an attempt to get her to let go.   
    "Ty!" she squealed. She released her hold on him and squirmed away.   
    "Oh, come back...I'm not done with you yet!" said Tyler, trying to chase her, but she ran and hid behind Harry, using him as a human shield. "No, fair..."   
    "Life's not fair," she said, sticking her head slightly over Harry's shoulder. "You're too tall, I can't see," she said quietly.   
    Harry shrank down a bit and Liv was able to rest her chin on his shoulder. "That better?" asked Harry. He could feel her head nod on his shoulder and took that as a 'yes.'   
    "All right, that's enough..." said Mrs. Weasley, stepping in.   
    "Aww, we were just messin' around," said Liv as she lifted her head and placed her hands on Harry's shoulders. Harry wished she would get closer to him again, he liked having her near.   
    "I'll see you later, Ty," said Liv as she remained behind Harry.   
    "It was nice meeting everyone," said Tyler. "Bye, Ollie," Liv waved goodbye and let go of Harry to climb into the car while Hermione came over to give a quick goodbye to Harry and Ron.   
    "Let me know if you scar hurts again," she said quietly to Harry before leaning over to Ron and whispering, "Don't forget..."   
    "Bye, Hermione," Ron said forcefully.   
    "I'll see you guys later," she called out as she ran over to the Granger's car and climbed in the backseat with Tyler.   
    "Boys, let's get going," Mr. Weasley called from the driver seat. Harry and Ron filed into the backseat with Ginny and Olivia.   
    "Well, that was fun, wasn't it?" said Mrs. Weasley cheerfully as they drove home.   
    "It was a blast and a half," said Liv, for once her voice didn't carry its usual sarcasm.   
    "You all seemed to get along pretty well, maybe we don't need to have that party after all," said Mrs. Weasley, thinking out loud.   
    "But it would be so much fun," said Ginny.   
    "Yeah, we didn't get to spend enough time with them," said Ron.   
    "Besides, didn't the letter say that some of the professors would be there?" said Harry. "It would be to their advantage to meet them before school starts.   
    "Harry has a good point, Mum," said Ginny.   
    "What do you think about it Olivia?" asked Mrs. Weasley. She was the only one who hadn't said anything about it so far.   
    "I don't mind," she answered.   
    "Huh?" said Ginny, looking at her, an odd expression on her face.   
    "Sorry, I wasn't paying attention... What were you talking about?" said Liv as she looked away from the window.   
    "Never mind, forget I ever mentioned it. We'll still have the party, don't worry about it," said Mrs. Weasley.   
    "Wicked," said Ron with enthusiasm.

* * *

    When they arrived at the Burrow, Errol was laying on the kitchen table unconscious, awaiting the family's return with a letter tied to its leg. He stirred and let out a loud 'hoot' as Mr. Weasley walked through the door.    
    "Oh, 'ello Errol. What have you got there?" asked Mr. Weasley as he untied the letter from the old owl's leg.   
    "I hope it's not their Hogwarts' letters," said Mrs. Weasley upon entering the kitchen. "If we had gotten them sooner we could have killed two birds with one stone and got our shopping done today too. Oh shut up, Errol," she said when Errol let out a loud hoot. "It's only a figure of speech, we wouldn't have killed _any_ birds." Errol swivelled his head as if thinking about it, then took off and flew out through the kitchen window, narrowly missing the wall. "Who's it from dear?"   
    "Professor Dumbledore," said Mr. Weasley as he unrolled the parchment. "Hermione's parents can't make it to the party, something about a dentists' convention..." he said, looking over the letter. "So Albus has decided to hold the little get together at headquarters. He's asked if you could help with the food preparations, Molly dear."   
    "Of course I'll help out," said Mrs. Weasley. "I imagine the place is a mess without someone living there all the time. We'd be living there, keeping things neat and tidy if I didn't feel I was neglecting our own home."   
    "We wouldn't be neglecting it," said Mr. Weasley. "Fred and George could stay here and take care of things."   
    "Have you been in their room lately?" said Mrs. Weasley sarcastically. Ron had come in to ask his parents something but immediately turned around and left when he heard his mother's tone of voice. "If we trusted them alone with the house, it wouldn't be here when we came back!"   
    "Uh...oh, the letter also says I need to pop on over to headquarters to have a quick little chat with Albus as soon as I get this," said Mr. Weasley nervously. He gave his wife a quick kiss on the cheek before Disapparating to headquarters. Ron re-entered when he heard the sharp 'pop.'   
    "Mum?"   
    "Yes dear?" Mrs. Weasley said distractedly as she fumbled around the kitchen looking for something to do.    "I was wondering if..." his voice trailed off as he looked out the window. Ginny, Harry and Liv were still outside and out of earshot, but Ron was still slightly nervous.   
    "If what, dear?" said Mrs. Weasley as she stopped going through one of the cupboards and turned to look at her youngest son.   
    "I was wondering if you happened to notice that guy at the Leaky Cauldron, the one wearing the black cloak, with a hood hiding his face," said Ron, quietly.   
    "I don't know, son. Why?"   
    "There was something weird about him. He seemed... there was a sense of evil around him, or something," said Ron. he looked out the window again then looked back at his mother.   
    "Sense of evil?" said Mrs. Weasley, slightly perplexed.   
    "He sent chills down my spine, and once, when he looked at Harry—"   
    "What happened?" she interrupted.   
    "Harry's scar...it started to hurt," Ron answered hesitantly. He was nervous that his mother would immediately run outside to see if Harry was all right, but he was shocked to see his mother sink into a chair with a heavy sigh.   
    "Yes, I noticed the man. The order has recently begun to believe that someone is following Harry for the Dark Lord. If Harry's scar burned when he unknowingly met eyes with that stranger then he most likely is one of the people tracking him," said Mrs. Weasley.   
    "Why didn't you tell us before?"   
    "I can't tell Harry. If he starts acting like he knows he's being followed by someone other than the members of the Order, V-Voldemort will know," she said, stumbling over the Dark Lord's name. "We can't tell him, and you mustn't either," she said seriously, looking Ron in the eyes.   
    "You don't think Harry's...stalker is going to hurt him, do you?" Ron asked worriedly.   
    "No, he won't hurt him. Voldemort wants him for himself," said Mrs. Weasley quietly, Ron looked down at his hands.   
    "Hey Ron! What're you doing in there?" Ginny called out.   
    "I won't tell them, Mum," said Ron quietly as he stood up. He stepped out of the kitchen and outside to the bright and sunny yard. Mrs. Weasley remained in her chair for a moment before Disapparating to headquarters. She had to confirm the belief that Harry was being followed by the Dark Lord's followers. She knew Harry would be safe, and wasn't worried about leaving the four children alone. There was a member of the Order watching the Burrow and she knew that Liv was an advanced witch and could be trusted. Dumbledore had made sure of that.

**A/N**:R&R, lemme know what ya think...


	8. Chapter 8

**Title:** Whisper on a Stream (8?)  
**Author name:** darkforest214  
**Category:** Drama, Angst  
**Spoilers:** Books 1 through 5  
**Rating:** PG  
**Summary:** Um, well it's Harry's 6th year and some surprises await him (as does danger).  
**Disclaimer:** This story is based on characters and situations created and owned by JK Rowling, various publishers including but not limited to Bloomsbury Books, Scholastic Books and Raincoast Books, and Warner Bros., Inc. No money is being made and no copyright or trademark infringement is intended. Aka… I own _nothing_ (except for a few characters…my little first years and few others I won't mention just yet…)  
**A/N:** I haven't been posting this one because I stoped writing it and didn't have what I had written typed. Now that I've got my lap top I've been able to catch up on some of my typing so I decided to continue posting what's left of this (long) story. Yes, I know it's Mary Sue ish, and has an overdone plotline, but I haven't worked on this one in 2 years…Sorry, this is a long one…Then again, if you think this is long, wait 'til chapter 12…

* * *

Chapter Eight

Come to Me

"Kids hurry up! I'd like to get there sometime today!" yelled Mrs. Weasley from the bottom of the stairs, her strong voice carrying all the way to the top floor.

It was Wednesday, two days before the party, and Mrs. Weasley wanted them to arrive early so she could do a little house keeping. They then planned to stay at Number Twelve Grimmauld Place, the headquarters for the Order of the Phoenix, for the rest of the summer.

"Fred, George! No, just carry them!" shouted Mrs. Weasley as she heard a series of loud noises that no doubt came from the twins' room.

"That wasn't us," said Fred as he came down the stairs dragging his trunk behind him. "Those noises came from the girls' room," he said as George reached the bottom of the stairs.

"I better go check on them, make sure they're all right," said Mrs. Weasley somewhat nervously.

"I'm sure they're all right, Mum," said George. "And if they broke anything, Liv could fix it…"

"I should check on them anyway… I'd really like to leave soon," said Mrs. Weasley as she climbed the stairs. Fred and George shrugged their shoulders before sitting down at the kitchen table.

"Felt weird to pack our trunks again," said Fred.

"Yeah, but at least we're not going to school," said George and Fred nodded his head in agreement.

"Where's Mum?" asked Ron as he entered the kitchen.

"Upstairs checking on Ginny and Liv," answered Fred.

"Oh, okay," said Ron. "By the way, do you know what that noise was? It sounded like a dragon stomping around n your room."

"Oh, yeah… we dropped our trunks," said George with a smile. Ron laughed to himself and muttered something as he went back upstairs.

Moments later Mrs. Weasley came down the stairs with Ginny, Olivia, and their trunks close behind.

"Nice try, George…" said Ginny when she saw the twins sitting idly at the kitchen table.

"Blaming those noises on us…" said Liv accusingly, but with a smile on her face.

"Why are you accusing me?" said George, "I'm the innocent one!" Both girls nearly burst with laughter.

"You? The innocent one?" asked Ginny sarcastically, "Neither one of you are innocent…" Liv smiled and thought she caught a glimpse of amusement in Mrs. Weasley's eyes, but that was short lived.

"Why don't one of you 'innocents' pop on upstairs and see how Harry and Ron are doing," said Mrs. Weasley.

"Sure thing, Mum," said Fred before Disapparating with a loud 'crack.'

"You're not going too?" said Liv as she took the now empty seat next to George.

"Naw, I'd rather stay and prove my innocence," joked George with a smile.

"Mum, what're we going to do with the owls?" asked Ginny. "Are we going to let them fly there or are we taking them with us?"

"We don't need to worry about Errol, he's already there and I think Hedwig left this morning," said Mrs. Weasley.

"Should I take Marty caged?" asked Liv. "So he doesn't get lost or anything…"

"Maybe that cat could keep Pig quiet," suggested George.

"We just might have to send Pigwidgeon off with a letter, and he can meet up with us later," said Mrs. Weasley.

"That way we don't have to put up with that twittering git," muttered George. Without warning (except for a loud 'pop') Fred reappeared in the kitchen.

"Hey, you took my seat!" said Fred, pretending to be offended.

"Yeah, hm… about that…." said Liv sarcastically.

"You're not getting it back," George finished for her. She smiled at him and his ears turned slightly red.

"Are they almost done?" asked Mrs. Weasley, interrupting them.

"What? Oh, yeah," said Fred distractedly. "Oh, and Ron wants to talk to you, he said he needed to ask you something."

"Maybe he wants to know where babies come from," Ginny joked quietly, but their mother heard.

"Ginny Weasley! I'd expect something like that from the twins, but not you!" Mrs. Weasley snapped.

"Sorry, Mum… it just slipped out…" said Ginny.

"Nice one…" Liv muttered sarcastically after Mrs. Weasley disappeared up the stairs.

* * *

"Ron, what is it that you wanted?" Mrs. Weasley asked as she entered Ron's cluttered room. 

"Yeah, um… I wanted to ask you something…" Ron said hesitantly.

"I'll take my trunk downstairs," said Harry. He had an odd feeling that Ron knew something but wasn't telling him. As soon as Harry was gone from the room Ron sat on his bed and let out a sigh.

"How are we…? Will we be followed to headquarters? Will they track Harry to Number Twelve Grimmauld Place?" asked Ron. He hoped his parents had thought of a way to get there safely and undetected.

"Oh, well…er…" Mrs. Weasley didn't have an answer. She hadn't thought of how much trouble they could encounter trying to get Harry and the others safely to headquarters.

"If Harry is followed there…" said Ron, his voice trailing off. "We could wait until nightfall," he suggested.

"No, there are ways to be detected, even at night… and we don't want Harry to know why we're being secretive," said Mrs. Weasley.

"He's got to be told _eventually_. We can't keep him in the dark like this," said Ron.

"Dumbledore doesn't want—"

"—His actions to give away the fact that the order knows he's being followed. _I know_, Mum. But he has the right to know," said Ron, his voice full of frustration.

"Just wait to tell him," said Mrs. Weasley as she sat down next to Ron. "Please, just wait until you're safe at Hogwarts."

Ron let out a sigh, but he nodded his head. "I promise I won't tell him until then. Even though I hate to keep this from him."

"I know, honey, but he'll understand. He's a good friend and a great person," said Mrs. Weasley as she affectionately placed her arm over his shoulders. "If it'll make you feel better you can tell Hermione. Besides, I imagine she was wondering about that strange man at the Leaky Cauldron." There was a short knock at the door, "Is there anything else, Ron?"

"No, Mum, thanks," said Ron. "Come on in, Harry."

"Sorry, it's not Harry… it's me," said Ginny as she stuck her head in the room.

"What is it dear?" asked Mrs. Weasley.

"Dad's using one of the fireplaces at the ministry…his head is in our living room," Ginny said quietly. "He said he wanted to speak with you."

"When you're finished packing go ahead and bring your trunk downstairs," Mrs. Weasley said to Ron before standing up and leaving the room.

"Ginny, can you help me get my trunk closed?" asked Ron.

"Why did you pack so much?" Ginny asked sarcastically. She moved over to Ron's trunk and picked through some of its contents on top. "Do you really need those broken quills? Or what about this book? Ron, you've got it memorized, do you really have to take it?"

"Of course I do! It's about the Chudley Cannons, the greatest Quidditch team of all time!" Ron said in his team's defence.

"But they haven't won a game in _years_," said Ginny. "And you have the bloody book memorized!"

"I am taking the book," said Ron defiantly.

"Fine, whatever, just don't let me hear you complain about how heavy your trunk is," said Ginny as she closed his trunk and sat on it long enough for Ron to latch it shut.

Ron went to pick the trunk up off the bed and groaned as he tried to carry it toward the door. "Wow, this thing is—"

"Don't say it!" said Ginny, quickly interrupting him. She went downstairs to get away from Ron.

"Where's Ron?" asked Mrs. Weasley when Ginny entered the kitchen.

"He's coming downstairs right now…although it might be a while, Ron over packed. He could barely lift his trunk!"

"We could go help him," Fred suggested innocently.

"No, don't go anywhere! You two would end up hurting someone," said Mrs. Weasley quickly.

Soon they could hear Ron grunting and breathing heavily as he dragged the heavy trunk down the stairs.

"What did Dad need to talk to you about?" asked Ginny, remembering that his head had been in their fireplace moments earlier.

"Oh, well there's been a change of plans," said Mrs. Weasley. Just then Ron entered the kitchen, dropped his trunk and fell into the nearest unoccupied chair.

"Change in plans Ron," said Fred, "we're not going."

"So you better take your trunk back upstairs and unpack," said George.

"Shut up," muttered Ron. "Wait, we aren't going?"

"You believe everything the twins say?" asked Ginny sarcastically. Ron grumbled something and their mother intervened once more.

"That's enough you two. We are still going, but we're changing the way we originally planed to get there," said Mrs. Weasley.

"Why?" asked Harry. "Is there something waiting out there to get us?" he asked somewhat sarcastically.

"No, but we don't want to draw unwanted attention toward the location of Headquarters," said Mrs. Weasley. "It could be very dangerous. We're going to go in two groups. Three of you will come with me as soon as Arthur gets here," she started to explain. "The other three are going to wait here until I arrive with the first group. Don't worry, Arthur will be here the entire time and will travel with the second group and let that group know when it's safe to leave."

Mr. Weasley arrived with a pop, making Harry and Liv jump slightly. "What have I missed?" he asked somewhat cheerfully.

"Just updating them on the plans," said Mrs. Weasley.

"They've changed the location," said Mr. Weasley, his tone serious. "We won't be going to headquarters, Dumbledore doesn't want to risk it." He bent over a scrap bit of parchment and scribbled down a quick note:

To avoid spies from following us we will have to pretend to be going elsewhere…

"Here's the new location," he said as he pulled an official looking letter out of his pocket. The writing was in green ink and Harry recognized Dumbledore's crisp handwriting. The address seemed legitimate, but it really led to an old, run down house on the opposite side of London as Headquarters. Mr. Weasley wrote another note on the scrap parchment and passed it around the table:

First group: Fred, Ron and Ginny

Second group: Harry, George and Olivia

"Do not say anything. Put your cloak hoods up and leave them up, even if you're staying. Don't mention who is in your group. Call each other code names or something. All of you go upstairs and get hooded, black robes on. Meet back down here and the first group will leave. Second group will return upstairs and wait in Ron's room. Stay away from the window. It is very important that they don't know who is in what group.

Harry wanted to ask who the 'they' was in the last sentence, but he was to nervous to ask.

"Why can't Fred and I just Apparate there?" asked George.

"Because we need you to stay with the group," said Mr. Weasley.

"You two are allowed to use magic," said Ginny matter-of-factly.

That gave Olivia an idea, she took the parchment and quill and quickly wrote:

Is that why George and I are staying with Harry?

She handed the note to Mr. Weasley who read it and passed it on to his wife. Both nodded their heads 'yes.'

"Okay everyone, let's go," said Mr. Weasley. Everyone got up and went to their rooms. Moments later when everyone came back downstairs their faces (and red hair) were hidden from view. Mrs. Weasley called for the first group and they went by Floo Powder to the house of a rich supporter of Dumbledore and the Order. From there they took the Knight Bus to a location ten miles away from Headquarters. Two members of the Order awaited their arrival and ushered the three kids and one adult into the back of a van and drove off on their way to the house at Grimmauld Drive.

"When are we leaving?" George whispered to his father shortly after the first group left.

"Not until after dark," Mr. Weasley replied quietly. He was burning the bit of parchment he had used to write instructions on, holding it in midair with magic. Harry and Liv were upstairs in Ron's room, waiting for the time they would get to leave.

"Are we going the same way mum and the others went?" asked George.

"Of course not! Now put your hood back up, keep your mouth shut and go back upstairs with the other two. Don't Apparate! Take the stairs," said Mr. Weasley, knowing his son would have preferred to take the easy way upstairs.

George went upstairs to Ron's room. It was darker in the room since they had blocked up the window. Harry was sitting on the floor, staring at the slanted ceiling and Liv was curled up on the floor next to him in her Animagi form. She lifted her doggie head and whined softly when George entered.

"Sorry, the only thing he told me was that we're," George lowered his voice, "leaving once it's dark."

Harry moaned, "So we're going to just sit here for a few hours doing nothing?"

"Exactly," George replied.

Liv sat up and returned to human form. "We could come up with code names for everyone, like Mr. Weasley suggested," she said.

"Not a bad idea, but… How would…? Where would we start?" asked George as he sat on the floor across from Liv and Harry.

"Don't go by physical features," said Harry. "If you started calling me 'Scar Head' it might be a little obvious…"

"Scar Head?" said Liv sceptically.

"Or something like that," muttered Harry.

"I remember, from what you told me that your father's nickname was Prongs, right?" said Liv.

"Yeah," said Harry. "But what does that have to do with—?"

"Awww, Pronglet," Liv interrupted.

"Maybe when I was little…but Pronglet sounds too—"

"Little kidish?" asked George.

"Yeah," Harry agreed.

"Well, it was a start," said Liv in her defence.

"So should our names deal with an animal?" asked Harry.

"We could call you Lassie," said George to Liv.

"Lassie was a collie and a male, I'm a—"

"Wait, don't say it!" Harry cut her off. "Don't say what kind of animal you are," Harry whispered. Liv looked at him questioningly. "Mr. Weasley told us to remain quiet, remember?"

"Yeah, but what—?"

"They're probably worried that someone is listening…" said Harry.

"And Dad was burning that paper he had wrote on when I was down there…" said George. "But he left the new address on the table."

"But why are they being so cautious all of a sudden?" asked Harry.

"Uh, well…the house _is_ wired, so to speak…" George confessed quietly.

"What?" both Liv and Harry said at once.

"Do you have any paper? I'd rather write it down…" said George.

"Yeah, hold on," said Liv. Her messenger bag appeared at her side, she opened it and pulled out a notebook and pen. "Here."

George took the pen, inspected it and shrugged. Awkwardly he wrote his message.

Fred and I have the house wired with Extendable Ears… If we wanted to hear anything all we'd have to do is go down to my room…

"All of the rooms?" Harry asked.

"Most of them," said George. 'Ginny's isn't' he wrote.

"What are those?" Liv asked, pointing to the words 'Extendable Ears' on the paper.

"I'll explain later," George answered. "Wait, did you hear that?" he said quickly. They heard noises outside the door, someone was slowly climbing up the stairs as if trying to avoid making them creak.

"Quick, hoods up," said Liv.

"Forget the hoods, crawl under here," said Harry as he quickly pulled his invisibility cloak out of his trunk. Olivia moved closer to Harry, George came and sat next to her and Harry threw the cloak over them. They huddled together as the sound came to a stop right outside the door. They held their breath as the door knob slowly started to turn and with a long, drawn out squeak the door opened.

"Hmm, I better oil those hinges," they heard Mr. Weasley say, his voice coming out from within his hood. "Where did—?" he said, staring nervously around the room. "Oh no!"

"Mr. Weasley, it's okay, we're still here," Harry said as he uncovered his head.

"Harry, how do we know it's not at trap!" Liv whispered harshly, but Harry ignored her.

"Is it time to go?" Harry asked as he stood up. Liv and George moved closer to each other and stayed hidden under the invisibility cloak.

"Almost, we're just… um, we're just waiting for the signal," Mr. Weasley replied, his voice faltering. Harry noticed this and suddenly became suspicious.

"Maybe he doesn't know about that spell…" Liv muttered nervously.

"What spell?" asked George.

"The one that alters your voice to someone else's," said Liv.

"Oh yeah…that one," muttered George.

"Mr. Weasley, I was wondering…" said Harry trying to think of a question only the _real_ Mr. Weasley would know the answer to.

"What?" he replied sharply.

"Dad wouldn't snap like that," whispered George. "Oh no, what if something happened to him!"

"I'm sure your dad is fine," said Liv comfortingly as she took up his hand in hers.

"Uh…I was wondering, er, why you had your hood up?" said Harry. "You never said anything about you wearing it…"

"Oh, didn't I? I guess I forgot to mention it," the man who claimed to be Mr. Weasley said.

George heard Liv mutter something as she stuck the tip of her wand out under the cloak. Suddenly a light breeze stirred the air.

"Is there a window open?" the man asked.

"No, you told us to keep it shut," said Harry dully. He had begun to slowly inch away from the spot where he knew George and Liv still hid.

"Liv muttered another word and the breeze turned into a strong gust of wind. The hood of the man's cloak fell back to reveal his face. The man frantically grasped for the hood to cover his face but it was too late. All three of them knew it wasn't Mr. Weasley.

_"Petrificus Totalus."_ Liv said immediately. The man's body stiffened and he fell to the floor.

"Sorry I didn't listen to you," Harry muttered to Liv as George pulled the cloak off with his free hand. Harry tried not to notice, but he couldn't help it…she was holding his hand.

"No, that's okay," she said.

"We've got to check on Dad, he could be hurt," said George as he stood up rather quickly.

"Ow, George, are you trying to rip my arm off?" joked Liv.

""Huh? Oh, sorry. Let me help you up," he said. This time when he pulled on her hand she stood up. "Okay, now can we go?" said George anxiously. Liv planted her feet, braced her legs and tightened her grip on George's hand as he tried to run toward the door. "Ow, are _you_ trying to pull my arm off?"

"Sorry, but we shouldn't just rush downstairs. This guy most likely didn't come alone," said Liv.

"Good point," said Harry. "I mean, look what happened when I didn't listen to her."

"Put your hoods up," said Liv. She pointed her wand toward herself and muttered a spell. "My voice doesn't sound the same, right?" she asked.

"No, it doesn't… What did you do?" Harry asked as he stared her disbelieving.

"The same thing he did," George said as he pointed toward the stiff man lying unconscious on the floor.

"He changed his voice to try and trick us. And it worked," said Liv as she looked at Harry.

"Wow, that's weird. I know it's you talking, but it doesn't sound like you," George said admiringly.

"I borrowed the voice from a friend back home. Now put your hoods up and don't say anything. He's heard your voice Harry, and he'll recognize it," said Liv.

"You're going to revive him?" Harry asked as he put his hood up and pulled it down over his eyes.

"Yes, so keep your wands out," she said as she knelt beside him and took his wand from his stiff hand, "just in case." She handed the impostor's wand over to George and whispered, "I can see your hair," she said with a gentle smile.

"Oops," he muttered as he pulled his hood down past his nose.

Liv smiled and placed her hand on his arm. "Don't worry, I'm sure your dad is fie. I can send Marty downstairs to check on things if you'd like," suggested Liv.

"Really? He could do that?" George asked eagerly. Liv smiled and nodded and his eyes lit up and he engulfed her in a hug. He let go when Marty entered the room with a meow. Liv knelt down on her knees and slipped a small, round charm out of a pocket in her robes and attached it to his identification tag.

"Try to stay out of sight," she said as she scratched between his ears, "avoid getting caught, and please try and find out as much as you can." She stood up and Marty took off through the open door.

"What was that thing you connected to his collar?" Harry asked.

"A simple charm. Close your eyes, George," said Liv. "Do you see anything?"

"No, should I?" he asked.

"Feathers…I forgot to set the spell. Here," she said reaching into her pocket and pulling out a normal looking pair of sunglasses, "put these on."

George took them and put them on. "It looks like I'm crawling down the stairs!"

"Now you see what he can, sort of… You're basically looking through the lenses as if from the centre of the charm."

"Cool!"

"Okay, so you keep an eye on Marty," she said, "and Harry, you'll keep your eyes and ears open for _anything_." Both boys nodded. She mumbled the spell to release the petrified stranger and kept her wand aimed at his heart as he began to stir.

"Oy, what happened?" the man groaned as he held his head in his hands.

"You lie to us. Remember?" Liv said sternly in her friend's voice. The man nervously began to look for his wand but stopped when George held it up for him to see. "You won't be needing that," Liv said, indicating his wand.

"What's going on?" the man asked in a nervous, high pitched voice. His _own_ voice.

"Why don't you tell us," Liv suggested. George tapped her on the shoulder to get her attention.

"There are more men waiting downstairs, from what I can see," George whispered in her ear, all the while never removing his eyes from the strange man.

"Can you see how many?" she asked.

"No, it's too hard to tell," he said quietly.

"Try and count them as best as you can," she whispered to him. "How many came with you?" she asked the nervous little man.

"N-n-no one, I-I-I came alone," he stuttered.

"Don't lie."

"There are f-five," he said quietly.

"That looks about right," George whispered.

Liv nodded. "Why are you here? What are you trying to pull?" she asked.

"We…I…uh, well…"

"Answer her," Harry prompted fiercely, his wand outstretched.

The man seemed to gain some confidence from nowhere, as if he knew something was going to happen whether or not he told them. "We've come for Harry. My master needs him, and if we find out where that meddling fool's headquarters is would a lovely bonus for my lord."

"Apparate to Headquarters and let them know what's going on. We're going to need some help," Liv said as she turned to George. The man noticed she no longer stared at him with her piercing green-gold eyes and moved in to attack.

"Ol, look out!" Harry shouted. But the man had tackled her and brought her down hard to the ground. Her head hit the corner of Ron's bedpost and she didn't move. The man had managed to get her wand but dropped it when George pointed both his own wand and the man's wand at his chest. Harry held his wand aimed as well.

"Drop it," George said.

The man looked from one hooded figure to another and dropped the wand. "_Petrificus Totalus,"_ George said and once more the man was flat on his back.

Both boys ran to Olivia's side to see if she was all right. "She's still breathing," said Harry.

"Of course she is, she's only unconscious," said George with a hint of relief in his voice. He too had feared the worst. "It's all my fault. If she hadn't turned to talk to me…"

"No, it's my fault, I let my guard down," said Harry.

"Okay, so we're even. I'll go for help," said George. He took off the sunglasses and handed them to Harry. "You might need these, they're getting restless downstairs."

Harry took the glasses and with a 'pop' George was gone. Harry put the sunglasses on over his own glasses and watched as five restless men waited in the kitchen with an unconscious Mr. Weasley on the floor in the corner.

He grabbed Liv's hand. "Let's hope George hurries." No sooner had he said it ten members of the Order showed up in the kitchen and froze the followers of the Dark Lord. But that was all he saw because Marty had turned tail and hurried upstairs.

Harry took off the glasses and watched the door. He was slightly shocked to see a woman with bright pink hair enter the room.

"Whoa, what happened here?" she asked.

"Hiya Tonks," Harry said with a smile as he stood and removed the hood from his head.

"Well it's good to see you again Harry!" she said cheerfully. "Oh, who do have here?" she asked when she tripped over the temporarily petrified man. "Did you take him out? You know you're underage and could be in major trouble if you—"

"No, don't worry. It wasn't me. George took care of him," said Harry, quickly cutting her off.

"Good," said Tonks. "Well then Harry, if you're ready we can get going." She started to push Harry toward the door.

"Wait, not without Liv!" Harry said quickly.

"Who?"

Harry pointed to her unmoving body lying next to Ron's bed. "Oh!" said Tonks. "I thought you and George were the only two here…What happened?"

"He attacked her, and she hit her head pretty hard when she hit the ground," explained Harry.

"Well, we can't leave her here, now can we?" said Tonks. "Let's get her downstairs and they'll take her with Arthur to St. Mungo's."

"I don't think she's injured too badly," said Harry, not wanting to leave her side.

"She's knocked out cold, Harry. She needs to see a Healer," said Tonks. She pointed her wand at Liv and she rose into the air. Her hood fell from her face and Harry noticed a small stream of blood running down her cheek coming from a cut above her left eye. "Ouch, how'd she get that?"

"I don't know. She either got it when she fell or when he tackled her…" said Harry. Tonks floated her out into the hall and down the stairs, Harry and Marty following close behind.

"Remus, there's another stunned one upstairs. And this young girl needs to go to St. Mungo's. She's a guest of the Weasleys," said Tonks when they entered the kitchen.

"Professor Lupin!" said Harry when he saw him. Memories of the professor and his godfather flooded his mind, and it seemed that Lupin was also suffering a lapse of recollection.

"Hello, Harry," Lupin said when he had recovered, "it's good to see you again. How _are_ you?"

"I've been better, but she's made things easier," Harry replied, indicating the unconscious girl hovering between them.

"Is that the exchange student?" Lupin asked.

Harry nodded, "She was attacked by the man pretending to be Mr. Weasley…"

"Don't worry, Harry. These men will be taken to the ministry, you won't see them again for a while. Moody and Tonks will get you to headquarters. I'll take Mr. Weasley and uh…I'm sorry, I never caught her name."

"Olivia."

"Right, Olivia. I'll get Mr. Weasley and Olivia to St. Mungo's," he finished. Harry nodded to show that he understood. "I'll see you latter then. I've been…er…I want to talk to you."

"All right, I'll talk to you later," said Harry quietly. He had a feeling that he wanted to talk to him about Sirius…

"You've got the invisibility cloak, Harry?" Mad-Eye Moody asked.

"Yes sir," said Harry. He was glad he had remembered to grab it before coming downstairs.

"What're you just standing there for? Put it on," Moody ordered.

"Quick question, Moody," said Harry.

"It better be, we need to get going…"

"Last year ten of you escorted me to headquarters. Why so few this time?" Harry asked curiously.

"There are ten of us here. One man for each of the Death Eaters, two to take the injured to St. Mungo's and that leaves two deal with you. Now let's get going boy."

"How are we getting there?" Harry asked.

"So full of questions…" Moody grunted suspiciously.

"He has the right to be, Moody," said Tonks. "Six Death Eaters appear in the Weasley's house…I'm a bit confused myself!"

"Tell me something I don't know," Mad-Eye grunted. "And don't stick your tongue out at me either," he said when Tonks started making faces at the back of his head. Harry held back a smile, Mad-Eye Moody's magical eye never missed a thing.

"Go ahead and put your invisibility cloak on," said Tonks.

"That's the first sensible thing you've said all day," said Moody sarcastically.

"Thank you, I'll take that as a compliment, considering it came from _you_," Tonks said with a grin. Lupin cleared his throat and the old Auror stopped arguing with the younger Auror

"Your ride is here," said Lupin.

"Ride?" Harry asked. Moody motioned towards the window and Harry looked out. "Thestrals?" he asked when he saw the massive black horses with wings and large, white eyes.

"That's not all that's out there that you'll recognize," Moody said, his magical eye looking out through the wall.

"Hagrid!" Harry exclaimed.

"He doesn't know we'll have you with us," said Tonks.

"And don't let him know you're here either," Moody growled.

"So many secrets…" Lupin muttered. Harry thought he caught a hint of sadness in his voice. Harry wished he could talk to him no, to ask him about the last time; the _first_ time Voldemort had risen to power. But he knew that Moody wanted to get going.

"Don't you have two injured wizards to look after?" Moody snapped.

"You'll ride with me, climb up first. I'll give you plenty of time, but no help," said Tonks. "Remember, Hagrid doesn't know you're with us."

"Come on, Tonks. The boy isn't stupid, besides we've got to go _now_," said Moody. He went outside and walked up to one of the three, large Thestrals, and with his approval he climbed up on to its back, his wooden leg sticking out an odd angle.

"Is everything all right? What happened here?" Hagrid asked, his voice full of concern as he stood near the largest Thestral (and the only one large enough to carry him).

"Yeah, luckily George was able to Aparate to headquarters," Tonks said as she stood near the head of her Thestral while waiting for the invisible Harry to climb up

"What about Harry? Is he alrigh'?" Hagrid asked.

"Harry's fine, he's already at Headquarters. The only two kids that were still here were George and that exchange student," Tonks replied.

"Where is she?"

"Going to St. Mungo's with Arthur. Enough questions, now let's go," Moody growled. "Get rid of that ridiculous hair, are you trying to attract attention?" he snapped as Tonks climbed up on to the thestral behind Harry.

"Sorry," she mumbled as she screwed up her eyes and her hair changed from lime green to a 'normal' shade of brown.

"Alrigh' then, let's get goin'" Hagrid said. He climbed onto the back of his large thestral and they took off.

"You can see the thestrals too?" Harry asked Tonks quietly.

"I was with my grandmother in St. Mungo's when she passed." Tonks answered. "I imagine you've been seeing them all along. You know since you're parents…" her voice trailed off.

"No, last year was the first year… I was too young to remember anything about my parent's death," Harry answered. Moody flew closer to them and gave them a warning look with both his real eye and magical one. And for the rest of the trip they rode in a chill silence.

* * *

It was well beyond midnight when they arrived a block away from the house. 

"I better get these guys back home," Hagrid said as everyone — including Harry — dismounted. "Will you be needing me?"

"No, Hagrid. Reward these creatures when you get back. They deserve it," said Moody.

"Do you want to come in and see Harry?" Tonks asked.

"I'd like to, but I really should get back to Hogwarts. Lot's to do before school starts… Tell Harry I said 'ello," Hagrid said.

"I will. See you around, Hagrid," Tonks said as he mounted. They stood and watched him fly away with the other two thestrals following behind him. "Harry, Hagrid said 'ello," Tonks said while they walked in the shadows towards numbers 11 and 13 Grimauld Place.

"Try not to knock anything over," Moody whispered gruffly to Tonks.

"Come down to the kitchen, come on," Mrs. Weasley urged quietly as the walked in through the door. She led the three into the kitchen where the rest of the Weasleys waited anxiously. "Oh, Harry thank goodness you're safe!" Mrs. Weasley said now that she was out of the dark and silent entryway. She engulfed him in a hug and bombarded him with questions. "Are you hurt? Dear, you look peckish, are you hungry? You must be starving! Come, sit. Tell us what happened."

"George already told you what happened, Mum," said Ron, sarcastically.

Harry knew what Mrs. Weasley wanted to hear. "Mr. Weasley and Liv were taken to St. Mungo's, Professor Lupin took them. And the six Death Eaters were taken to the Ministry…"

"Why was Liv taken to St. Mungo's?" George asked, his voice full of concern.

"Lupin said it was just a precaution," Harry said. "I'm sure Moody could explain things better than I could."

"I'm glad you managed to get here safely. I don't know what I would have done if something had happened to you," said Mrs. Weasley. "I imagine nothing went wrong," she said to Moody.

"Just because I never say any danger, doesn't mean there wasn't any," Moody said grumpily.

Ignoring his comment, Mrs. Weasley grabbed a stack of bowls and moved over to a large cauldron. "Anybody else hungry?" Harry hadn't realized he hadn't eaten anything since breakfast and graciously accepted her offer.

* * *

"You and Ron will be staying in the same room as last summer," Mrs. Weasley said as she took Harry's empty bowl. "Your things are already upstairs. I suggest you go on up and go to bed. All of you! It's been a long day," 

"C'mon George, let's go make our room more…liveable," Fred said.

"Oh no you don't! You leave it the way it is. It's clean and decent and I don't want you two making it unfit to live in." Mrs. Weasley said sternly.

"We were only going to try and spruce it up a bit, make it a bit more enjoyable," Fred pouted.

"Just go to bed. And keep quiet in the entrance hall," she said as Fred exited the kitchen, George following close behind.

"So someone showed up at the Burrow pretending to be Dad and then tried to attack you?" Ron said quietly as they climbed the stairs to their room.

Harry was quiet and withdrawn, the house held too many memories. "He tried to attack me, but got Olivia instead," Harry said as he entered the dark room. He recognized the empty frame on the wall and turned away from it, tears threatening to form in his eyes.

"But she's okay, right?" Ron asked.

"Yeah, I guess. But it's my fault," Harry said angrily. "I was supposed to be watching him. She turned her head one time. JUST ONCE AND HE TACKLED HER!" he shouted. "She's in the bloody hospital because I didn't react fast enough. She _trusted_ me, and I let her down," Harry's voice was full of emotion. Harry felt like he wanted to cry, yet he also wanted to scream and shout. His emotions were twisting his stomach into knots and he felt he would be sick if he couldn't stop it.

"Harry, you did everything you could. I'm sure she'll understand," said Ron, trying to calm her down.

"No I didn't. I could have stopped him. I could have—"

"She'll be fine. George said no spells were used, and that she only hit her head. She may be unconscious, but she'll be _fine_. She'll probably be back tomorrow, you'll see," said Ron.

Harry calmed down a bit and sat on the bed in frustration, his mind still running in circles. "How can you be so calm?" he said to Ron after a period of silence.

"About what?"

"About what! Your father was hurt too!" Harry said.

"I know," Ron said with a sigh as he sat on his bed and looked down at his feet. "But if you say he was alive when he was taken to Mungo's then I believe he'll be fine. He's been through worse than a bump on the head…"

"But—"

"Don't think about it. Put it out of your head and go to bed. They'll be fine, you'll see," said Ron. He crawled under the covers and lay with his back to, and after a while Harry lay down to try and sleep too.

* * *

Harry was walking along a shallow stream on a bright, sunny day. He bent down to pick a wild flower when he heard something. It sounded like a voice. A voice Harry recognized, but couldn't quite put his finger on who it was. 

"Harry…Harry…" the voice called softly. Harry stared into the stream, the voice sounded like it was coming form the water. "Harry…Harry you must—"

"MUDBLOODS, HALFBREEDS, FILTHY SCUM!" the portrait of Sirius's mother howled, waking both Harry and Ron.

"Get the curtains closed!" Mrs. Weasley shouted over Mrs. Black's piercing voice.

"BESEECHING THE HOUSE OF MY FATHER! BLOOD TRATORS! HALFBREEDS! FILTHY SCU—" her voice suddenly stopped.

"Oy, what a rude awakening," Ron said as he rubbed his head. "That scared me half to death. And look, I bumped my head on the headboard, there's going to be a lump!" Ron complained.

"Every time…every bloody time!" Harry muttered.

"What?"

"I said, your head already looks like a lump," said Harry.

"That's not what you said…"

"I know," Harry admitted. "I keep having this dream, ever since Liv came," he said. "And every time I have this dream something wakes me up just before the voice tells me something. But I can't hear, he speaks too softly," Harry said.

"Who?"

"I don't know, I recognize the voice, but I don't know who it is. I…I have a feeling he's trying to tell me something, trying to warn me."

"About what? What danger is there to you as long as you're surrounded by people that would give up their own lives to protect you?" said Ron.

"I _don't_ know. He started to tell me something but Mrs. Black started screaming and I woke up."

"Do you remember what he said?"

"He kept repeating my name. the last thing he said was, 'Harry, you must—'"

"You must what?" Ron asked.

"I don't know, the next thing I heard was 'Mudblood, halfbreed, filthy scum.' The last time I had a recurring dream—"

"Hiya Harry!" Fred said as he appeared with a 'pop.' "Interesting alarm clock we have," he said as George appeared.

"Yeah, Tonks knocked over the troll foot umbrella stand again," said George.

"_Again?_" asked Harry, rolling his eyes.

"It's nice to hear the screeching voice of Mrs. Black again," Fred said with a sigh. "Reminds us of home…"

"Professor Lupin was here," said George.

"What'd he have to say?" Ron asked.

"Don't know, they went into the kitchen," said Fred.

"And the door still has the Imperturbable Charm on it, so the extendable ears won't work," said George.

"Shush, I'm picking up voices," Fred hissed.

"This is ridiculous, I'm going downstairs," Harry muttered.

"What? Wait! Why?" Fred asked.

"What better way is there to find out what's going on then to go downstairs and find out for ourselves?" Harry asked sarcastically.

"But where's the fun in that?" Fred asked.

"You know, one of these days you're going to have to take _something _seriously," Harry said pointedly.

"That's it, I'm going downstairs too," Ron said before jumping off the bed and leaving the room. Harry followed him out the door and the two went down the stairs, past the portrait of Mrs. Black and down even more stairs into the kitchen.

"Harry, Ron awake already!" Mrs. Weasley asked when the two entered the kitchen.

"I thought for sure you'd sleep well past noon," said Lupin. "After all, we were out pretty late last night."

"Mrs. Black woke us up…" Ron mumbled.

"I told Tonks to be careful," Mrs. Weasley muttered as she set the table.

"Still haven't found a way to get rid of her?" Harry asked.

"No, that blasted Permanent Sticking Charm is still holding strong," Mrs. Weasley grouched. "There's bacon, eggs and toast…eat up."

"Professor Lupin, how's Dad? Will he be coming back soon?" Ron asked as he filled his plate.

"And what about Olivia, is she coming home too?" Harry asked, trying to hide his eagerness.

"I'm going to stop by later this afternoon. You'll know when they're coming back by lunch time," Lupin said. He tried to ignore the fact that Harry had just called this place home, but it stuck in his mind for the rest of the meal. Not even Sirius _ever_ considered this place as 'home.'

"She better be back soon…Hermione and Tyler will be coming today," Mrs. Weasley said as she started cleaning the empty serving plates.

"An fa paarty ish domowo," Ron said with his mouth full of food.

"Ronald Weasley, I taught you better than that! Do NOT talk with your mouth full," Mrs. Weasley scolded.

"Sorry, Mum," Ron muttered after he swallowed. "I said, and the party is tomorrow. Dad and Olivia wouldn't want to miss that…"

"Well, hurry up nad finish eating, then go get dressed. We've got a busy day ahead of us. There's still lots of cleaning to do!" Mrs. Weasley said as she took Harry's empty plate.

"But Mum, we cleaned all of last summer…" Ron whined.

"And this house is still a mess. You're cleaning today and that's final. Besides, the work will take your mind off things."

* * *

Mrs. Weasley, Harry and Ron were cleaning one of the bedrooms. Harry was anxious about Liv, while Ron was anticipating lunch. The only thing Mrs. Weasley was worried about was making the house presentable in time. She had tried to convince Fred and George to stay and help out, but they insisted on going to work at their store. "If only they were that dedicated to other aspects of their life," she had muttered after they left. 

Harry was about to open a dresser drawer when he heard a growling noise. "What was that!" he asked.

"My stomach," Ron muttered.

"Well no wonder, would you look at the time!" Mrs. Weasley said. "I better go make lunch. You boys go and get cleaned up, I'll come and get you when lunch is ready." She headed out the door but came back a moment later and stuck her head in the room. "Ron, can you go wake up your sister, or at least find her? My, my where has the time gone!" she mumbled as she walked down the hall.

"She probably heard us cleaning and decided to lock herself in her room and pretend to be asleep," Ron muttered as they walked down the hall.

"What room is she staying in?" Harry asked.

"The floor above ours, not next to Fred and George's room, but one room over," said Ron, as if reciting it from memory. "This one, actually," he said as he came to a stop outside a closed door. He knocked on it a few times, "C'mon Gin, it's time to get up."

"I don't hear anything in there, do you?" Harry asked.

"Ginny?" Ron said as he pounded on the door a few more times.

"What do you want?" Ginny's irritated but muffled voice said from within the room.

"Mum says to get you're lazy arse out of bed," Ron replied.

"Yeah, and I'm sure those were her exact words," Ginny mumbled, voice dripping in sarcasm. The door opened and she stood in the doorway with her hands on her hips. "I've been up for several hours, thank you very much," she said, glaring at Ron, "I was actually in the middle of something, so if you don't mind…" she waved him away from her door and crossed the room to sit at the desk. "Oh, and can you close the door on your way out?" she said over her shoulder.

"What are you doing?" Ron asked, letting his curiosity get the best of him.

"Nothing that concerns you," Ginny said quickly.

"You're hiding something… I can tell. You're always quick to anger when you're being secretive," Ron continued.

"I'm not hiding anything, and I'm not angry," she replied convincingly in a calm tone. "Now get out!" she snapped.

"HA! You _are_ angry!" said Ron.

"Ron, maybe you should just drop it," Harry warned.

"No, Harry it's okay. If Ron wants to know so bad I'll tell him," she said. "It'll only confuse him anyway."

"Hey!" Ron said, sounding upset. But he entered the room anyway, Harry close behind although uneasy about invading on Ginny's privacy. She opened the top drawer of the desk and pulled out a thin, black rectangular object.

"That's Liv's!" Harry said as he recognized the dark red symbols on top.

"What is it?" Ron asked, looking confused.

"It's a lap top… a mini computer, my cousin went through three of them," Harry answered. "Ginny, why do you have it?"

"She showed me how to use it last week, she even set up an, what's it called… eye-mail account for me," said Ginny.

"Er, I think it's called E-Mail," Harry corrected.

"Whatever," Ginny said with a shrug.

"Wait, how can you be connected to the internet in a Wizarding household?" Harry asked.

Ginny shrugged, "Liv said it was something like the Wireless Wizarding Network only for computers instead of radios. It's a rather new technology for wizards. Liv said something about her dad working with the group that set it up… I don't know."

"I'm lost, what's 'e-mail'?" Ron asked, looking absolutely confused. "Is that when elephants deliver mail instead of owls?"

Ginny laughed, "It has nothing to do with elephants or owls, Ron."

"Good thing too, things could get messy if elephants started delivering mail," Harry joked.

"It doesn't involve animals at all, it's really fast and you don't have to clean up after it… unless you get spam," said Ginny.

"Spam?" Ron asked.

"Trust me, you're better off not knowing," said Harry.

"Muggle technology is too weird…" Ron muttered. "Let's just go eat!"

"Tell Mum I'll be down in a minute or two. I just need to say goodbye to Ty," Ginny said.

"You're talking with Liv's brother?" Harry asked.

"Yes, he's pretty worried about her."

"Lupin will have news for us, he went to St. Mungo's and said he'd be back for lunch…" Harry said. "He figured your dad and Liv would be back by dinnertime."

"That's great! That's when Hermione and Ty expect to get here," said Ginny.

"C'mon Harry, I'm starving!" Ron whined from the doorway.

"Sorry, I'm coming," Harry said. _'Hopefully she'll be home tonight,'_ he thought. He missed her, she was so unusual and interesting…he just wanted to be near her again. Then the thought hit him, _'I think I like her!'_

"Why so quiet, Harry?" Ron asked, recognizing the withdrawn look on his friend's face as they entered the kitchen.

"What? Oh…I was just thinking," Harry replied.

"Professor Lupin stopped by, Harry," Mrs. Weasley said. Her back was to them as she stood at the counter making sandwiches for them.

"What did he say? Are they coming home?" Harry asked eagerly. It was Mrs. Weasley's turn to ignore the fact that Harry kept calling this dreary old place 'home.'

"They'll be back in time for dinner—"

"You said that earlier, Mum," Ron interrupted.

"Excuse me, Ronald but I wasn't finished," she scolded. "They were released from Mungo's around noon. Ron, can you get the plates out?"

"Yeah, Mum."

"If they're out already why aren't they here?" Harry asked.

"What are you talking about? The plates aren't out yet," Mrs. Weasley said, distracted by the task at hand.

"No, I meant Mr. Weasley and Olivia," Harry said.

"Arthur had to go down to the ministry with her," Mrs. Weasley answered.

"Why?" Ron asked.

"They had to testify against the man that attacked her, and tried to kidnap you three. He'll most likely go to Azkaban for a month or two, unless they can prove he's a Death Eater," she stopped on her train of thought and looked at Harry. "She just may have saved your life, you know."

"But I could have prevented all of this if I had only listened to her in the first place," Harry mumbled, a wave of guilt making his stomach churn.

"Don't go blaming yourself, Harry. When you see her I'd rather you thank her than apologize to her," Mrs. Weasley said softly. "Now sit down and eat. Ginny! There you are. Have you been asleep this whole time?"

"No Mum, I was working on my room…trying to make it look presentable," Ginny said, shooting a daring look at Ron as she took a seat at the large wooden table.

"As long as you were doing something productive," Mrs. Weasley said as she placed the freshly made plate of sandwiches on the table.

* * *

Harry and Ron were cleaning out the room next to theirs, it was the room Tyler would stay in. Harry was about to open up a window to let some fresh air in when Fred and George Apparated with a sudden 'crack' into the room. 

"Are they back yet?" Fred asked.

"Do they look like they're here?" Ron asked sarcastically.

"Nope, don't see them," Fred replied.

"They might not be here yet, but Hermione and Tyler are," George said, his eyes twinkling at some unknown amusement.

"C'mon Harry, we gotta go great them!" Ron said quickly.

"But we haven't finished the room," Harry started to protest but he soon gave up. "Fine, let's go." He didn't feel like cleaning anyways…

"Harry, Ron already left," Fred said.

"Oh." Harry hesitated to go downstairs, he dreaded seeing Liv's brother, especially because he believed it was his fault that she got hurt in the first place. George sent Fred ahead so he could stay and behind to speak to Harry.

"He won't blame us," George said quietly. He too felt an immense amount of guilt about what happened. "He's a good guy, he'll understand." Harry looked sceptically at George. "Ah, who am I kidding? He'll probably never let us around his sister again," said George, his voice full of despair.

This time it was Harry's turn to be positive, "Maybe if we tell him what happened and explain everything he'll be okay… After all, Liv is fine, right?"

"Yeah."

"So…maybe…"

"You comin'?" Fred asked as he reappeared with a 'pop.'

"Yeah," Harry and George said, both sounding reluctant.

"How is everything?" Hermione was asking Ron when Harry and the twins showed up in the kitchen.

Ron looked up to Harry before answering, "It's been goin' good. Nothing too exciting happened."

"You're forgetting to mention that Harry was almost kidnapped," Fred said.

"What!" Hermione said, but for some reason Tyler didn't seem too surprised. "Harry, why didn't you tell me? Where you hurt? Was anyone injured? What happened?"

"Everyone is fine," Harry insisted calmly. "Mr. Weasley and Liv were released from St. Mungo's this morning, they should be home any minute now."

"Ronald, you said nothing happened!" Hermione said angry. "Harry what happened?" she persisted.

"Have Ron tell you about it later," Harry mumbled.

"Why me! Ask George, _he_ was there!" Ron protested

"You guys need to relax," Ginny said, indicating George and Harry.

"Don't worry about it you guys, I know you two did all you could, and she's fine. She's a tough girl, always has been," Tyler said. He smiled at Ginny; it seemed as if his smile had the same affect on Ginny as Olivia's smile had on Harry. "By the way, Ginny thanks for letting me know."

"Anytime," she said weakly, melting at the sight of Ty's smile.

"Anybody here?" Mr. Weasley asked as he stuck his head through the kitchen door.

"Dad! You're back!" Both Ginny and Ron nearly shouted while Mrs. Weasley rushed over to give him a bone crushing hug.

"We would have been back sooner but we got held up in court," he said as he entered the kitchen, Liv right behind him.

"Liv!" Both George and Harry shouted, while Tyler jumped out of his chair and ran to her. "Ollie! I knew you'd be all right!"

"Sorry if I worried you Ty," she said as she hugged her brother. Letting him go she went to Harry, he stood up to look her in the eyes. "Don't blame yourself Harry it was a stupid mistake on _my_ part," she said quietly. She surprised Harry by giving him a reassuring hug before moving on to George.

"Olivia, I'm—"

"No, George. Don't be sorry."

"But I am," he said seriously, his face downcast.

"I know," Liv said quietly with a half smile.

"I'm just glad you're okay," he said as he hugged her. "Don't you ever scare us like that again!"

"Don't worry, she will," Tyler said, suppressing a laugh.

"I have a feeling this isn't the first time she's caused trouble," Ron said sceptically and Tyler nodded.

"Wonderful! Another troublemaker," Fred said excitedly.

"All right, that's enough," Mrs. Weasley said, interrupting them. "Harry, Ron, take Tyler up to is room, help him carry his things. Fred, go with them," she ordered. "Ginny, take Olivia and Hermione up to their rooms, George help carry Hermione's belongings upstairs. Olivia's are already up there. Now go, get out of the kitchen, someone has to cook dinner!"

* * *

"Lucky you," Hermione said sarcastically as she entered Liv's room, where Ginny and Liv sat talking. "You're stuck with a room next to the twins!" 

"They're not too bad," Olivia said. Ginny let out a snort of laughter and a very sarcastic "yeah right!"

"Are we talking about the same set of twins?" Hermione asked.

"Yes! Seriously, they don't bother me. I can kind of relate to them in a way," Liv said with a shrug of her shoulders. Hermione and Ginny both rolled their eyes.

There was a knock at the door and all three of them jumped. "It's me, Harry."

"And Fred—"

"And George—"

"And Ty—"

"You guys are ridiculous!" Ron said.

"Come on in," Liv laughed.

"We're curious," said Fred.

"When aren't you?" Ginny asked, but went ignored.

"Yes, please tell us," said George.

"About what?" Hermione asked, irritated all ready by the presence of the twins.

"How'd it go at the Ministry?" Fred asked intently.

"They asked us a lot of questions, and we had to identify the guy," Liv said. "Mr. Weasley told them what happened before they attacked him and I took up the rest of the story from there."

"Anything unusual?" George asked.

"I don't know… they had me keep my face veiled and I had to change my voice again," Liv said. "That's not normal, is it?"

"No, they don't usually do that…" said Ron.

"I think they did that since you're a minor, and you're a visiting witch. They probably didn't want you to be recognized," said Hermione.

"What?" Ron asked, confused yet again.

"They need to keep her identity a secret in case Voldemort and his Death Eaters find out who she is. He's not going to want some girl standing in his way when he goes after Harry, right?" she said.

"You're really smart, you know that right?" Harry said, and Hermione smiled at the compliment.

"I could have thought of that," Ron muttered. Hermione just turned and glared at him.

"But why would Voldemort go after Ollie?" Tyler asked, sounding concerned.

"Think about it, she's saved Harry's hide once already, what's to keep her from doing it again?" Hermione said.

"Any one of us in the room would protect Harry to the best of their ability, why should it matter?" Ron asked.

"Contrary to popular belief, I don't have _all_ the answers, Ron," Hermione said huffily.

"Look, I'm not here to save anyone, or to take on Voldemort single handed. Honestly, I'm here to learn. But Harry, if you ever need my help, you know you can come to me. I'll be there," Liv said. "I don't mean to sound like an emotional fruitcake, but you're my friend and I'd do anything for you. And that goes for all of you," she said as she looked around the people in the room, her gaze pausing on George long enough to make him blush. Her eyes returned to Harry and she said, "Don't worry about it, we're going to have a great year at Hogwarts, I promise." She smiled her heart stopping smile and Harry's stomach started to knot up.

* * *

**A/N:** I don't expect anyone to read or review, I'm just posting this because I can, and I want to get all of WoaS up here (even if I never finished writing it)  



	9. Chapter 9

**Title:** Whisper on a Stream (9?)  
**Author name:** darkforest214  
**Category:** Drama, Angst  
**Spoilers:** Books 1 through 5  
**Rating:** PG  
**Summary:** Um, well it's Harry's 6th year and some surprises await him (as does danger).  
**Disclaimer:** This story is based on characters and situations created and owned by JK Rowling, various publishers including but not limited to Bloomsbury Books, Scholastic Books and Raincoast Books, and Warner Bros., Inc. No money is being made and no copyright or trademark infringement is intended. Aka… I own _nothing_ (except for a few characters…my little first years and few others I won't mention just yet…)

**A/N:** Once again, I don't really expect anyone to read this. In fact, run away while you still can. Okay, but you have been warned.

Chapter Nine

"What's wrong Ollie, you seem a bi preoccupied," Tyler said as he came to stand next to his sister. "Here, I got you some pumpkin juice," he said, handing her a glass, she accepted it, but otherwise ignored it.

"Thanks," she said quietly.

"C'mon, you can tell me what's bothering you," Tyler said.

"I don't know Ty, I…my thoughts are so twisted… I don't know what's going on," Liv said, her mind struggling to put her fragments of feelings into words.

"What do you mean?" Tyler asked.

"One day I'm sitting at home dreaming about coming to England, the next day Dad surprises us, telling us he's been transferred to England and we'd be attending the finest Wizarding school around. We've always been good at magic, you and I. Does it seem odd to you that a week after our sixteenth birthday we receive our Hogwarts letter?" Liv said.

"I guess," he said with a shrug. "I never really thought about it before…"

"And why would our parents send us at the beginning of the summer? I know Dad's not moving out her until November, so why are we here so early? Why not wait a week or two before school starts?" she said.

"Because I wanted you two to be able to make friends and be comfortable in your new surroundings and your parents agreed," Professor Dumbledore said from behind the two. Liv jumped, slightly shocked and embarrassed. "Why do you two stand here questioning yourselves when you could be enjoying the party?"

"Sorry Sir, I just have a lot on my mind," Liv said quietly.

"Ah yes, I understand. Often I too have many thoughts running around my mind unbidden. Especially in times like these," Dumbledore said, his blue eyes sparkling from behind his half moon spectacles. "But sometimes you just have to take control of your thoughts and remind them that you are in charge."

"Headmaster! How long have you been here?" Hermione said as she came over to them. "Mrs. Weasley said she didn't know if you'd be able to make it."

"Headmaster? Are you Professor Dumbledore?" Tyler asked.

"At least that's what I'm told," Dumbledore answered, his eyes twinkling.

"It's great to finally meet you," Liv said.

"And you, Miss James. You two managed to get here safely I see."

"Yes sir," said Tyler.

"Only one minor mishap, Sir, but I'm sure you know all about it," Liv said.

"Fear not, the answers to your questions will become clear as the year goes on," Dumbledore said. "But in the mean time, here's your supply and booklist for the year. If you have any questions I'm quite positive Hermione shall be able to answer them for you. I do believe she knows more about Hogwarts itself than I do."

"That couldn't be possible," Hermione replied, blushing slightly.

"I forgot, Mr. Fred and George Weasley happen to know all the hidden passageways… Speaking of which I must find them, there's the matter of their little exodus we must discuss. Have you seen them?" Dumbledore asked.

"Sorry, Headmaster. But if I see them I'll make sure they don't know you're looking for them," Liv answered.

"Smart thinking. I shall see you around," Dumbledore said before leaving to find Fred and George.

"You two should come meet some of the professors. Quite a few of them are in the Order and have showed up tonight," Hermione said. "But I do have to warn you about—"

"Warn them about who?" a slick haired, crooked nosed man said from behind Hermione. Liv and Tyler watched the colour drain from Hermione's face as she recognized the voice.

"Uh… About Professor Binns, sir," Hermione said quietly. "How he doesn't realise how boring he is…" The man glared at her, looking down at her from his crooked nose.

"Aren't you going to introduce us?" he said silkily.

"Sorry, Professor," she managed to say. "Olivia, Tyler this is Professor Snape, the Potions Master at Hogwarts, Professor, this is Olivia and Tyler James, the transfer students," Hermione said weakly.

"How do you do, sir?" Liv said respectfully. Snape glared at her, trying to find something nasty to say, but he realised she knew nothing about his reputation.

"Pleased to meet you," Tyler said, his voice also full of respect.

"Pleasure," Snape said almost sarcastically. "I thought for sure you Americans would be rude," he said, trying to get a reaction out of the two. "Let's just hope you don't flounder helplessly like Potter and Weasley," he snarled as Ron and Harry came within earshot. He then turned on his heel and walked briskly away, his robes fluttering about his ankles.

"He seems pleasant," Tyler said sarcastically.

"Oh yeah, he's real delightful," said Ron, rolling his eyes.

"Who shoved a stick up his ar—?"

"Ollie!" Tyler cut her off. "Watch what you say around all these people, you don't know which ones are our professors!"

"Sirius and my dear Dad were probably the ones that stuck that stick up his arse," Harry said, he was rewarded with Liv's smile and quiet laughter.

"Come on, I'll introduce you to Professor Flitwick," Hermione said, rolling her eyes at Harry and Ron.

"What does he teach?" Tyler asked.

"Charms, and McGonagall teaches transfiguration," Hermione said.

"What, you're not going to tell them about your favourite professor?" Harry teased.

"Which one?" Hermione asked, looking confused.

"Professor Trelawney," Harry said, trying not to laugh.

"That worthless hack? She couldn't predict the weather let alone the future!" Hermione said bitterly.

"You're just angry because you don't have 'the gift'" Ron said, imitating Trelawney's airy voice.

"But I do have common sense. Trelawney would predict snow in the middle of summer!" Hermione shot back.

"All right, that's enough," Liv said breaking up the argument. "Why don't you introduce us to Flitwick and McGonagall now?"

After being introduced to the other professors present Professor Dumbledore came over and pulled Liv and Tyler aside.

"Did you ever find Fred and George?" Liv asked.

"Yes, they've been hiding out in their room," Dumbledore said. "But that's not why I pulled you aside," he said getting straight to business. "I've brought the sorting hat with me. Usually first years are sorted into their houses the first night, but I thought it better if we pre-sorted you two, since you are in fact _not_ first years. Do you know of the four houses?"

Yes Sir, Harry told me about them," Liv answered.

"And I read about them, Hermione let me borrow her copy of _Hogwarts, a History_," Tyler said.

"Good, now which of you will go first?"

"I will," Tyler said almost immediately.

"All right, come over here and have a seat," Dumbledore said. Tyler sat down in the indicated chair and Dumbledore placed the hat on his head.

_'Excellent mind, and a strong talent,'_ Tyler heard the hat think. _'A strong sense of loyalty to your family and friends. Your mind would place you in Ravenclaw, but your heart shall place you in…'_ "GRYFFINDOR!" the hat shouted aloud.

"FILTHY SCUM GET OUT! MUGGLES, HALFBREEDS, MUDBLOODS! BESECHING THE NAME OF MY FATHER!"

"Quick, get the curtains closed!" a voice shouted.

"BLOOD TRAITORS!"

"A fine house, Gryffindor. The house elves shall be made aware of the addition and an extra bed shall be placed in the 6th year boys' dormitory," Dumbledore said as he removed the hat from Tyler's head. Tyler stood up from the chair and his sister took his place. "Try and be a little quieter this time, we don't want to upset Mrs. Black again," he said to the hat before placing it on Liv's head.

_'Hmm…yes…strong talent, very strong…your mind seems to indicate qualities of Hufflepuff, but I see a large sense of bravery and even larger sense of loyalty,'_ the hat said in her mind. _'But I sense a sadness—no, a confusion—no that's not it either…it's self-doubt. Slytherin could rid you of your self-doubt.'_ Liv's heart seemed to stop and her boy froze. Harry had told her about Slytherin and the people in it.

_'No, please, not Slytherin,'_ she thought desperately

_'You are too nice too be placed amongst their kind. Your loyalty to your brother is too great. And something tells me, although I can't place my figurative finger on it, but something is telling me not to separate you from—'_

_'My brother?'_ Liv's thought interrupted the hat.

_'No, Harry!'_ the hat finished. _'I'd better place you in,'_ "Gryffindor!" the hat said much quieter this time. Liv let out a sigh of relief as Dumbledore removed the hat. The colour returned to her face as she stood up.

"Congratulations, Ollie! We're both in the same house," Tyler said as he gave her a quick hug.

"Yeah, that's great, isn't it?" she said meekly, thinking about the hat's last words.

"Congratulations you two," Dumbledore said. "Gryffindor is a great house, and you'll find yourself in excellent company. Run along and tell your friends the good news," Dumbledore turned to go and left the kitchen.

"I thought I heard the Sorting Hat," Ginny said excitedly as she entered the kitchen as Dumbledore was leaving.

"Yeah, we were just sorted," Tyler said.

"Really? What house?"

"Gryffindor, the both of us," Tyler answered.

"That's wonderful, we're all in Gryffindor too," Ginny said excitedly, then she noticed Liv's sullen face. "What's wrong? Aren't you happy?" she laughed.

"No, that's not it…I was just thinking about what the hat said," she said quietly.

"Oh…" Ginny and Tyler both said.

"I'll be back, I need some fresh air," Liv said, leaving the two alone in the kitchen.

As Liv climbed the stairs to her room Harry saw her, and thought she seemed upset so he decided to follow her.

"Knock, knock," Harry said as he stuck his head in through the door. Liv turned tfrom the open window and looked at Harry. He was surprised to see her usual cheery eyes seem dull and lifeless and she didn't flash him her usual smile. "Hey, is something wrong?" he asked, his voice full of concern.

"Tyler and I were just sorted," she said softly, "we both made it into Gryffindor."

"That's great! But I don't understand…why so sad?" Harry asked.

"I can't get what the hat said out of my mind."

"Want to tell me about it?" Harry asked.

"Not really, it's a bit disturbing."

"What if I tell you what it said for me, then will you tell me?" Harry said. He usually didn't like to think about what the hat said to him, let alone tell other people. Without waiting for an answer Harry began to tell her. "The hat said I had a thirst for power and that Slytherin would help me on my way to greatness, but Ron had just recently warned me about that house so I sat up there before hundreds of students begging the hat not to put me in Slytherin."

"You were put into Gryffindor," Liv said matter-of-factly.

"Only because I asked for it."

"The hat said I had the mind of a Hufflepuff, which I understand as not being overly book smart, but I've got common sense. It also said I have the bravery and loyalty of a Gryffindor," she said.

"Then why are you so upset?" he asked.

"Like you, it tried to put me into Slytherin. It said I had great power, but I doubt myself too much," said Liv.

"Self-doubt?"

"Sometimes I question my abilities," Liv explained. "It said Slytherin could boost my confidence. I pleaded with the hat and it said Slytherin wouldn't be a right match for my personality."

"Don't worry, you belong in Gryffindor," Harry said confidently.

"The fact that the hat considered me for Slytherin only concerns me a little bit. It's one of the last things it said," Liv said. Harry waited quietly for her to continue, and after a minute or two, she did. "The hat's exact words where, 'Something tells me not to separate you from—'"

"Your brother?" Harry asked, interrupting her.

"That's what I thought. It didn't want to separate me from you."

"What? The hat didn't want to separate us?" Harry asked, sounding perplexed and slightly surprised.

"I can't help but think that I'm here to…" she cut herself off with a shrug.

"…To protect me," Harry finished her train of thought. "But why now? Hermione and Ron have always been by my side, even though I've always faced Voldemort alone in the end. I've gone up against him four times—five if you count my first encounter when I was a baby—and I've come out alive each time. Why now?"

"Because someone you loved was lost. Sirius was important in the order. He was important to you."

"I tried to save him. That's why he died. I thought he was in danger…I wasn't thinking," Harry said, becoming angry at himself. "It's my fault, everything is my fault… If only Voldemort had managed to kill me in the first place he'd still be here!" Harry nearly shouted.

"Harry, please—"

"It's my fault he's gone, it was my fault you got hurt. Hell it's my fault Ron broke his leg in our third year!"

"Actually that was Sirius's fault, my leg snapped when he dragged me to the Whomping Willow," Ron said as he entered the room and shut the door behind him. "Harry, what's with all the yelling?"

Harry sat on the bed in quiet desperation while Liv stood in the corner out of the way. Ron hesitated slightly before moving to Harry's side and sitting down beside him. "Can you go find Hermione?" Ron asked Liv.

"No, Ron. I'm fine," Harry said.

"No you aren't, you need to talk to someone about this," Ron insisted.

"I already have," Harry said quietly.

"Harry, what good is it if you tell me?" Liv said as she came closer and knelt down in front of him. "You need to tell your friends, they know you better than I. We just met…"

"I don't want to talk about it anymore, I just want to forget."

"It's not good to forget things like this. Your memories and experiences help to shape the kind of person you are. Even the tragic events can lead you to being a better person," Liv said, looking up into his downcast eyes.

"And the things in the past, Harry if we forget about them, history will repeat itself," Ron said.

"That won't bring him back, he's gone," Harry said.

"He's happier now," Liv said.

"He's free. He doesn't have to run and hide anymore," Ron added.

"And just think, he's with your parents. Two best friends are together again," Liv said.

Harry looked up at Ron, then back down to Liv. "You really think so?" He asked. Both Ron and Liv nodded. "Okay, but I'm still going to blame myself."

"Let me tell you a story," Liv said, without waiting for a response she began. "Ty and I were messing around a month ago while practicing our instruments when a couple of friends came over. It was dark outside, so we lit a fire."

"Where is this going?" Ron asked sceptically.

"Just wait, Ron," Liv said. "Ty and I love fire… He was stirring the fire with an iron poker. I'm a bit foggy on the details but I think he was playing air guitar with the poker and the hot end connected with my shoulder. It burned through my shirt and the little hook got stuck in my shoulder."

"Ouch," Harry winced sympathetically.

"Yeah, here, I'll show you the scar," she pulled aside the neck of her robes and turned her back on the two boys. Between her left shoulder blade and collar bone on her back was a jagged scar about two inches in length. "Ty felt really guilty about it and blamed himself, but I never blamed him at all. And after a while he realized that and stopped feeling sorry for himself."

"That looks like it hurt," Harry said, at loss for other words.

"Initially yes, but the doctors gave me something for the pain. If it wasn't for all the muggles around Mom would have healed me magically," Liv said.

"It looks kind of weird… Can I touch it?" Ron asked somewhat eagerly.

"Uh, if you want," Liv said.

"Eww…Cool!"

"I'm just glad it wasn't my right shoulder, otherwise I wouldn't have been able to play my guitar," Liv muttered as she covered up her bare shoulder.

"At least your scar doesn't burn every time Voldemort has strong emotions or is nearby," Harry said as he absentmindedly fingered his scar.

"And hers is on her back, not as noticeable there," Ron said.

There as a knock on the door before Hermione entered. "Well, there you are! Everyone's been looking for you three. What are you talking about that is so important that you left the party?"

"Scars," Ron said, trying to confuse Hermione.

"Why on earth—? Oh never mind. I don't want to know!" Hermione said quickly. "Ty's been looking for you," she said to Liv. "He wanted to make sure you're all right. He said you ran off after being sorted."

"Yeah, something the hat said bothered me, but I talked it out with Harry," Liv said.

"Really?" Hermione asked.

"Yeah, the hat said something about how I could do well in Slytherin…" Liv said quietly, hoping to convince Hermione that that was the only thing bothering her. "But Harry told me about what the sorting hat told him and I realized I over reacted a bit."

"But when I came in Harry was—"

"Ron!" Harry said warningly, but he had gotten Hermione's attention.

"Harry was what?" Hermione asked.

"He was blaming himself for…uh…" Liv started to say.

"Sirius's death?" Hermione asked quickly.

"No," Harry said quietly. Both Ron and Liv looked at Harry trying to hide their surprised looks. "I was blaming myself for sending Liv to St. Mungo's and putting George into danger too," Harry said convincingly.

"And that led to a conversation on scars?" Hermione asked.

"I told him of an accident I had with my brother, showed them my scar and told Harry not to blame himself because I don't believe it was his fault," Liv said.

"Hey Hermione, wanna see her scar? It's totally wicked, go on Liv, show her!" Ron said enthusiastically.

"Uh…no, that's okay," Hermione said. "Just come back downstairs."

They heard a loud bang followed by the yelling Mrs. Black and an angry Mrs. Weasley.

"MUDBLOODS, HALFBREEDS—"

"—I SWEAR IF YOU EVER DO ANYTHING LIKE THAT AGAIN I'LL—"

"—DISGRACING THE HOUSE OF MY FATHER!"

"Sounds like Fred and George came out of hiding!" Liv said eagerly.

"What are we sitting around up here for?" Ron said, "The party is downstairs!"

"What did Fred and George do this time?" Harry asked Ginny once they were downstairs amongst the screaming.

"They set off a few fireworks. Mum went bonkers, but I guess that's not unusual."

"MUDBLOODS!" shouted Mrs. Black.

"YOU IDIOTS!" Mrs. Weasley was yelling.

"ENOUGH!" boomed Dumbledore's usually gentle voice. Even Mrs. Black stopped yelling for a second before spotting Dumbledore.

"_YOU_! ALWAYS STANDING IN THE WAY! DEFENDING THE WORTHLESS MUGGLES! AND YOU _DARE_ TO ENTER _MY_ HOUSE!" the painting shrieked.

"IT'S NOT YOUR HOUSE!" Harry shouted, Dumbledore turned and looked at Harry with a hint of sadness in his eyes, "IT'S NOT YOUR'S ANYMORE! SO GET OVER IT!" His outburst stunned everyone, including Mrs. Black's portrait.

"And to whom does this home belong?" Mrs. Black said in a deadly cold voice, for once not yelling—which shocked everyone even further.

"My Godfather," Harry said plainly.

"And who might that be?" Mrs. Black asked with an intense glare, although she seemed somewhat interested in what this angry, tousled hair boy had to say.

"Sirius Black, this house is his, you're just a portrait," Harry said. "An object such as yourself cannot own this house."

"This family disowned him. He cannot be the owner of this house," the portrait said mockingly.

"He was the last Black left," Harry hissed, reminding her maliciously that her family was no more.

"Harry, this house no longer belongs to Sirius," Dumbledore said quietly.

"Thank you, Muggle Lover," Mrs. Black said with mock affection. "See boy, it's _my_ house," the portrait said, almost gloating.

"No, it's not yours either," Dumbledore said sternly.

"Do you find it weird that they're arguing with a portrait?" George whispered in Liv's ear. She shushed him and nodded her head.

"Harry, the house belongs to you," Dumbledore said, his eyes laughing at Mrs. Black's growing rage.

"WHAT!" Mrs. Black screamed. Harry just so happened to say the same thing at the same time, only much more quietly.

"Sirius left everything to you. Even Buckbeak," Dumbledore said the same merry glint in his eyes.

"NO! THAT GOOD FOR NOTHING TRAITOR DOESN'T HAE THE RIGHT TO GIVE AWAY _MY_ HOUSE!" Mrs. Black was back to yelling.

"He wasn't a traitor, he just found it was better to be good then continue the family's evil ways," Harry said in Sirius's defence.

"THANK YOU FOR THE COMPLIMENT BOY, BUT THAT DOSEN'T JUSTIFY WHAT THAT TRAITOR DID!"

"You disowned your own son because he was different. You never even gave him a chance."

"DON'T YOU LECTURE ME ABOUT MY SON!"

"So now you're admitting that he's related to you?" Harry smirked. Mrs. Black became visibly angrier. "You're dead! You're just a painting! You—"

"Harry, that's enough," Dumbledore said as he placed his hand on his shoulder. Lupin closed the curtains over the painting before Mrs. Black could start screaming her chant of "mudbloods, half-breeds, filthy scum" again.

"Headmaster, is it true? The house is…mine?" Harry asked as he looked up at Dumbledore. He nodded his head, his blue eyes darkened with sadness. Here was this boy who had lost everything; he never really knew his parents, and the closest thing he had to a parent was a falsely accused fugitive on the run. The only thing this boy had left was his friends. Harry's relationship with Hermione and Ron reminded Dumbledore of Sirius's relationship with Lily and James. You couldn't keep the two boys apart, while the girl tries to instil some knowledge into the two. But it's not like the boys weren't smart, the girl of the group was just smarter.

Harry looked around the room and noticed some of the people were watching him intently, others, like Lupin, Mr. and Mrs. Weasley and Tonks were looking at him with pity and sadness in their eyes. Snape on the other hand had his glared at him in his usual way.

"I'm going up to bed," Harry said quietly. "Thank you Mrs. Weasley, the food was amazing as usual."

When he passed Ron and Hermione he didn't even look at them. "Harry…" Hermione said quietly, at a loss for words.

"I just need some time alone, some time to think," Harry said. He climbed the stairs.

Everyone stood around in awkward silence until Mrs. Weasley remembered that   
Fred and George had set off a few fireworks in the front hall.

"I never want anything like that to happen again," Mrs. Weasley hissed, and shortly almost everyone had left.

Harry sat on his bed staring at the empty canvas that hung on the wall without really seeing it. Harry just sat there in the dark, he wasn't thinking, he wasn't moving. All he could do was stare at the canvas.

"Harry?" Ron said quietly as he opened the door. The light from the hall flooded the room and Harry had to look away. "If you want to be alone tonight, Ty offered to have me share his room," Ron said quietly.

Harry's eyes adjusted to the light and his gaze returned to the canvas. "I don't care, whatever you want," he said with a shrug of his shoulders.

"I'll just er… maybe you need some time, uh, alone. I'll just um…get my things," Ron said rather awkwardly. He gathered his stuff and gave Harry a hopeless glance, "I wish I knew what to say," he said. He turned and left, Harry looked over at the door before it closed and darkness returned.

Hermione was waiting anxiously out in the hall while Ron went in and as soon as the door shut when Ron returned she started asking him a ton of questions.

"How did it go? What did he say? Is he okay? Is he still angry? Did he— "

"Hermione, stop, _please_. I'm sure he'll be fine, eventually," Ron said quietly as the two headed up the stairs.

"It feels awful, not to know what to say. He keeps things to himself he doesn't seem…he doesn't seem to be Harry anymore. It's like he's lost," Hermione said.

"I think he doesn't tell us what's wrong because he doesn't think we'll understand," Ron said.

"Or maybe he's unsure of what's wrong," Hermione said. They were now standing outside of Hermione's room, she stopped and faced Ron. "I just don't know what to do! He's our friend, I hate seeing him suffering like this," Hermione was near tears, she wished Harry would just talk to them about it.

"You don't think we're _losing_ him, do you?" Ron asked, sounding scared, "He seems so far away and isolated."

"I…" Hermione said, she didn't know what to say, Ron set down his tuff and gave her a quick hug when a tear slipped down her cheek.

"I don't know, Hermione, I just don't know…" Ron said as he held on tight to Hermione.

Hermione sniffled and slowly pulled back. "Thanks," she said quietly. She turned around and slipped into her room leaving Ron alone in the hall. He picked up his things, after a moment or two of just standing there, and went to Tyler's room.

Harry found himself walking along a stream. This time he strained his ears for any sound, but all he heard was his own footsteps. He stopped near a patch of wild flowers and knelt down to stare into the stream, then he heard the voice.

"Harry," it said, for some reason it sounded louder, and he didn't have to strain as much to hear it. "Harry…Harry."

"Yes, I'm here. What is it?" Harry answered eagerly.

"Harry, you must not blame yourself," the voice said sadly. Suddenly Harry realized where he had heard that voice before. It was Sirius Black.

"Sirius? Sirius where are you?" Harry called out in the dream.

"Don't worry about me, I need to warn you," the voice said. Harry longed to see Sirius's face, the untidy hair, tight features, sharp eyes; his voice brought tears to Harry's eyes. He longed to say goodbye.

"Can I see you?" Harry asked, ignoring the warning.

"I'm sorry Harry, you cannot. But I must warn you. It is very important," Sirius said, his voice was full of emotion and it was getting harder for Harry to hear.

"What? What's wrong?" Harry asked. He leaned his head closer to the stream, hoping it would help him hear better.

"Harry, you must—" his voice was interrupted by the sound of something hitting the ground. Harry woke up and looked around the room, it was starting to turn light outside as the sun started to rise.

"Oww…Bloody door…" Ron muttered as he stumbled into the room. He sat down on his bed and rubbed his foot. Harry let out a sigh and sat up. He must have fallen asleep while staring at the canvas, which he noticed was now no longer empty. He probably fell back from his sitting position without waking himself up.

"Ron?" Harry asked groggily as he sat up.

"Harry! I'm sorry, did I wake you? I didn't mean to, I just came to get—"

"No, that's okay," Harry said as he stood up and crossed the room. "I'm sorry about last night, you didn't have to leave," Harry said as he sat down on the bed next to Ron.

"Are you all right?" Ron asked. Harry noticed Phineas Nigellus was watching him closely.

"Yeah, I'm fine," he said, a small but genuine smile on his face. Ron nodded. "Is breakfast ready yet?"

"Can't you smell the bacon? Mum's been up since before dawn. Oh, and our Hogwarts letters are here too. I think Dumbledore left them here for us last night."

"Did anyone think to ask Dumbledore who our new Defence Against the Dark Arts professor is?" Harry asked.

"No… I just hope he's better than last year," Ron said with a snort.

"Don't worry Ron, anyone would be better than Umbridge," Harry said, he laughed when Ron shuddered at her name. "Unless of course Dumbledore finally let's Snape fill the position…"

"Don't even _joke_ about a nightmare like that!" Ron said. "It scares me just to think about…that woman," Ron said, shuddering again.

"Then don't," Harry said. Ron was done getting dressed and was putting on his shoes. Harry had moved back to his bed and was peering out the window through a hole in the moth eaten curtains.

"You comin'?" Ron asked. Harry turned and looked over at him.

"Er…yeah, I'll see you downstairs, I still have to change," Harry said Ron shrugged and left the room and Harry turned to the painting.

"You talk in your sleep you know…" Phineas said as soon as Ron was gone.

"I do? What did I say?" Harry asked curiously.

"I wasn't really paying attention, but it sounded a lot like you were carrying on a conversation with Sirius Black," he said, sounding slightly amused.

"His voice, he came to me in a dream," Harry said. "I've been having this dream for almost a month now."

"I know, I heard you tell that redheaded fellow about it a few mornings ago," Phineas said matter-of-factly.

"Did you hear anything else?" Harry asked.

"Yes, one of the portraits from downstairs told me all about your little conversation with Mrs. Black last night" he said seriously. "I think you handled her very well. She's a strong headed woman."

"Thanks," Harry said quietly. After a moment or two Harry looked up appreciably at Phineas, "You know, I think you're the nicest Slytherin I've ever met…"

"Well, it wouldn't do good to anger the owner of the house. You might just throw me away," Phineas replied, behind his mocking tone lay a hint of pride. His gruffness hid his real feelings toward the boy. Harry smiled and the man disappeared. Harry thought for a moment how interesting it would be to be a portrait at Hogwarts. It would be even more interesting if he had two frames…

"Harry, are you coming to breakfast or no?" Fred's voice—or was it George—called from out in the hall.

"Yeah, I'm just getting dressed," Harry replied as he was snapped out of his thoughts.

"Okay Liv, you can go in," Fred said.

"Fred!" both Liv and George said at once.

"He's changing, she can't go in there!" George said.

"You have a twisted mind, Fred," Liv scolded playfully.

"Thank you," Fred said, swelling with pride.

"Come on, let's just go eat. If we don't hurry, Ron might have eaten everything by now," George said.

"See ya down there Harry," Liv called.

Harry sighed as he heard their footsteps fading down the hall. "I heard that… " Phineas said from the empty frame.

"That's nice," Harry replied sarcastically.

"Are you sure he was fine?" Hermione asked Ron at the breakfast table for the seventh time.

"Yes Hermione, for the last time, he was _fine_," Ron said, everyone listening eagerly. So far, Ron was the only one that had actually _seen_ Harry this morning. "He even smiled. He was able to make peace with himself or something, he seems a lot calmer."

"And I thought I heard him laugh when we were outside his door," Liv said, looking to Fred and George for their agreement, both nodded.

"See, Hermione, he's fine," Ron concluded.

"I don't know…" she said, sounding skeptical.

"Just drop it, children, I hear him coming," Mrs. Weasley interrupted.

When Harry entered the kitchen everyone became awkwardly silent. Harry, sensing they had just been talking about him, ignored it.

"Here, Harry," Mrs. Weasley said, breaking the silence as she handed his Hogwarts letter to him. "I've got everyone else's as well. Oh, you can open it later, you have to eat first," she said as Harry began to tear it open.

"Can we have ours too, Mum?" Ginny asked sweetly.

"Yes dear, after breakfast."

"I'm done!" Ron said almost immediately as he pushed his plate away.

"Are you?" Fred asked skeptically while George eyed him suspiciously.

"No…" Ron said sullenly as he grabbed has plate and pulled it closer to him once more. Harry tried not to laugh, but failed. "Shut up Harry!"

"Sorry…" Harry muttered, trying unsuccessfully to hide his smile from Ron.

"We'll go to Diagon Alley tomorrow, Sunday is your father's day off and we'll need someone to carry the packages," Mrs. Weasley said.

"But won't most of the shops be closed?" Harry asked.

"I know we're closed on Sundays," Fred said, receiving a glare from his mother for even mentioning the store.

"Then we'll just have to go today. Remus, do you think you could come along and help me keep an eye on this bunch?" Mrs. Weasley said. Lupin replied with a nod. "Excellent, we'll leave after breakfast!"

"Mum? I just thought of something," Ron said.

"What's that dear?" she said as she started to collect the empty dishes and piling them in the sink.

"You only have to buy books for two of us this year," Ron said, a large, hopeful smile on his face.

"Can we get new robes this year?" Ginny asked excitedly.

"All my robes are too small, I've grown quite a bit since last year," Ron said.

"My robes don't fit me anymore either, and Ron's are too baggy in the shoulders and waist for me. Please Mum, can we get new robes, please?" Ginny pleaded.

"I don't know dear, I'll have to check, maybe not _brand _new robes… But we'll see, with the price of books and all," Mrs. Weasley said.

"Molly, maybe we should leave the children behind, traveling by Floo Powder is too risky. We don't know if the Floo Network is still being watched," said Lupin.

"Arthur could set up a port key," Mrs. Weasley suggested.

"Molly…"

"I know, it's not practical… I just want Tyler and Olivia to see Diagon Alley, and Harry, Ron and Hermione haven't seen Diagon Alley since their third year, and Ginny since her second," Mrs. Weasley said. "They're young, they need sunshine and fresh air, we can't lock them up inside all summer."

"But times are changing, Molly. Life is becoming dangerous, especially for these children—" Lupin said.

"Wait a second," Liv said speaking up. Harry could tell she was annoyed and he was slightly worried about what she would say. Tyler gave her a warning glance but she ignored it. "Don't we have a say in this?"

"Ollie, don't. This isn't our problem," Tyler said.

"No? We're involved, aren't we?"

"We are now," Tyler said sarcastically.

"Ty, don't you want to see the famous Diagon Alley?" Liv asked earnestly.

"Not if it's too much trouble just to get there," Tyler said, still trying to convince her. "It's not worth all the trouble."

"We can defend ourselves Ty, not like there would be a reason to. Mrs. Weasley is right, we can't be kept inside—"

"You're too restless for your own good, Ollie," Ty interrupted.

"I finally get to come to England and I don't get to go anywhere except the hospital? It's just…" Liv let out a sigh and shook her head.

"There is one way…" Lupin hinted. Harry looked eagerly at Lupin, maybe they'd get to go after all. Mrs. Weasley looked quizzically at Lupin. "Can't you think of it Molly?" he asked with a mischievous grin.

"Disparate them there? Lupin, you know that's difficult," Mrs. Weasley said.

"But not impossible," Lupin said. "I know it's possible because Lily and James use to do it with Harry when he was a baby, and Dumbledore has done it with me when I was to weak to recall my own name," he admitted sadly.

"Come to think of it, I use to do it when Ron was a baby too. Fred and George were going through their terrible two phase and I would constantly have to chase them around," said Mrs. Weasley, throwing a loving glare in their direction.

"They never did grow out of that phase, did they?" Liv laughed.

"No, they haven't," Hermione agreed.

"We could help Mum," George said.

"I don't know, it could be risky…" Mrs. Weasley said doubtfully.

"No problem Mum, we've done it before," Fred said.

"Harry, why don't you come with me?" Lupin suggested before Mrs. Weasley could yell at the twins. Harry agreed and moved to stand in front of Lupin. "Link arms with me now and hold on tight." With a blink of an eye, and a loud 'pop' the two were gone.

"Ginny, come give your big brother a hug!" Fred said with open arms. Ginny nervously backed away from him. "Sorry, Mum," Fred said as his mother glare at him. Ginny went to Fred, linked arms and the two were gone.

"Ron," Mrs. Weasley said, "You next." And soon those two were gone, soon Lupin returned and took Tyler, and Mrs. Weasley came back for Hermione.

"Ahh, alone at last," George joked. Liv laughed and moved closer to him. She wrapped her arm around him.

"Let's go before the others leave without us," she said.

"But then I could show you around myself…just the two of us," he said suggestively. He was becoming more and more bold, wrapping his arms around her waist.

"Just go," she laughed, trying not to blush she rested her head on his chest. She felt so warm and comfortable in his embrace, and the way George held on to her made her feel safe and secure.

When George and Liv finally showed up Harry felt his stomach lurch when he saw them. She looked happy, Harry wished he could have been the one to transport her. The one to hold her like that and receive that wonderful smile. His heart ached, but he ignored it as Mrs. Weasley began to lead them through the crowd towards Gringots, the Wizard Bank.

"Oh no I hadn't thought about this. You two don't have any money!" Mrs. Weasley said as they entered the front doors.

"Don't worry about it, Mrs. Weasley our parents planned ahead," said Liv.

"Dumbledore set up an account and our mum transferred money to it," said Tyler.

"That and dad gave me fifty galleons before we left," Liv said.

"What! He never gives us money! His pockets are locked tighter than a bank vault!" Tyler said, obviously shocked.

"But I'm 'Daddy's little girl,' remember?" Liv said with a cute pouty, expression on her face. "Just bat your eyes at him, call him Daddy and talk in a really sweet voice… works every time."

"You're not 'Daddy's little girl' Adrian is," Tyler argued.

"But I am the girl old enough to know what money is. Don't get your panties in a twist, Ty half of it is yours anyway…" Liv said with the shrug of her shoulders.

"I'll go down to the vaults and get your money," Mrs. Weasley said. "Why don't you run along to visit Flourish and Blotts."

"Wow, this place is amazing!" Liv said as the group stepped into the bookstore (Fred and George went down to their store claiming that they just wanted to check in on their friend Lee Jordan. Ron explained to Liv and Tyler that they didn't like book stores and almost always managed to avoid going in.)

"Sure, it's great if you liked books," Ron muttered to Harry. Hermione overheard and glared at the two.

"I love bookstores, although none of them look like this at home," Liv said as she walked around a tall pile of books that looked about ready to fall over and was most likely held up with magic.

"We'll be going through the bargain bin to look at used books," Ron muttered resentfully. Ron and Ginny disappeared to the back of the store, Hermione showed some of the books she had read recently to Liv and Tyler while Harry looked for the books they needed for school.

"Just don't spend all your money on reading material," Tyler warned Liv. "A lot of these books are probably already in the library at school."

"Come on, the books we need are over here," Harry called out.

"Finding things all right?" Lupin asked as he came toward Harry.

"Yeah, all but this one," Harry said, showing him the title.

"_Deadly Dangers_, don't think I've heard of that one," Lupin said as he took the list.

"It's probably all about werewolves," Harry muttered jokingly, loud enough only for Lupin to hear.

"Excuse me sir?" Lupin asked the nearest employee.

"Which book?" the old man asked before Lupin could finish his question. "I'm sorry you won't find that one here," he said after looking at the list.

"Do you know where I can get it then?" Lupin asked, slightly taken aback. Flourish and Blotts always had the books anyone needed.

"I'm not sure, sir. I've had to tell a lot of students all day that he book doesn't exist," the old man said.

"But why would it have been assigned?" Harry asked.

"I do not know the way of teachers," he said with a shrug. "Perhaps this year's Defense Against the Dark Arts professor doesn't exist…"

"Come on Harry, we won't find that book here, let's go pay for those books," Lupin called to the others.

"Mum hasn't come back yet," Ron said. He carried a stack of beat up old books that had seen better days.

"She should be back soon," Ginny said.

"I couldn't find—"

"It doesn't exist," Harry interrupted.

"Yes it does, Fred and George had copies of this book their sixth year," said Ron.

"Wait, which book are you talking about?" Harry asked, sounding confused.

"_Miranda Crenshaw's Standard Book of Spells: Year Six_," said Ron. "What book are you talking about?"

"_Deadly Dangers_," answered Harry.

"What do you mean? It exists, I have a copy of it right here…" Ron said, holding up a particularly shabby book with faded lettering. Sure enough it said, _Deadly Dangers_ "Who told you it didn't exist?"

"That man over—hey! Where did he go?" Harry said as he looked around. "He was here just a minute ago…"

"Excuse me," Lupin said as he broke away from the group and went to the front counter "We were told this book didn't exist, yet here it is," he said to the woman behind the counter as he held up the book Ron had found.

"Of course it exists! We just don't have it in stock," the woman said. "In fact we sold the last copy to that boy over there," she pointed to a tall, thin boy that Harry, Ron and Hermione recognized immediately. "We're under stocked, didn't order enough," the woman continued, not noticing they weren't listening anymore. "We're ordering more, I can put you down on the waiting list, you'll be the first ones."

"Uh…yeah, er, we'll need five, no…four," Lupin said as he returned his attention to the woman at the counter.

"I need one too professor, it's on my booklist as well," Ginny said. "We only found one copy in the used section."

"Five it is then," Lupin said.

"It's not easy trying to sell the same book to every student at Hogwarts. This is the third time we've had to reorder. Names please?" Lupin gave her the names as Mrs. Weasley arrived. She handed a small velvet bag to Harry, one to Hermione and one to both Olivia and Tyler.

"Did you get all your books? Mrs. Weasley asked. They explained everything, paid for their books and left. "I'll just have to come back later in the week to pick them up," Mrs. Weasley said as they left the store.

"Where to next?" Harry asked.

"Why don't we go to restock our potion ingredients and other school supplies, I'm running low on parchment," Hermione suggested.

"Well if you didn't use two or more rolls per essay assigned as homework you wouldn't run out as quickly," Ron muttered to Harry.

"And if you would actually _do_ your homework you wouldn't be carrying around parchment that you've had since your first year!" Hermione retorted.

They all bought new parchment, quills, and ink as well as potion ingredients and a cauldron for Liv and Tyler each. Then they went to Madame Malkin's Robes for all Occasions.

"Does it say you need dress robes?" Lupin asked.

"It says, hold on let me find it…" Ron said as he started searching through his pockets.

"It says 'You may bring dress robes if you desire, but they are not required,'" Hermione read aloud from the neatly folded slip of paper she had pulled out of her bag.

"Hey, I was gonna—"

"You were taking to long," Hermione said matter-of-factly.

"Still, I was—"

"Drop it you two," Harry said, rolling his eyes.

"My dress robes fit me fine. Fred and George bought them a little big, just in case I kept growing," said Ron.

"Mine should still fit me fine too," said Hermione. Harry agreed and it was settled they wouldn't need dress robes except for Ginny, Liv and Tyler. Ginny insisted hers were too small.

"Right then, measurements first, then we'll get your school robes. You three can look at dress robes while waiting your turn," Mrs. Weasley said. "I'm going across the street to the Owl Emporium, I'm checking the prices of owls to see if we can afford a new one. Errol has seen better days… Remus, you don't mind staying with the children?"

"I'll be fine, as long as they don't try and sell me new robes," Lupin said. "They may be patched up and fading, but they're all I can afford." It was hard work finding and keeping a job when you were a werewolf.

"Hello, hello how may I help you today?" a short, cheery man said as he came out of the backroom and spotted the customers.

"We need new robes for school, all of us," Harry said.

"And the three of us need dress robes," said Liv, indicating herself, Tyler and Ginny.

"Ah, you're not from around here," the tailor said when he heard Liv speak. "What kind of robes are you looking for?"

"He already told you. We all need school robes and the three of us need dress robes," said Tyler.

"You two planning on going to Hogwarts then eh?" The tailor tried to joke, none of them found him amusing however. "Right then, who will go first?" In time they all got their measurements taken and picked out dress robes.

Ginny picked out an emerald green velvety dress robe with a darker green trim the color really accented her vivid red hair. Tyler chose a simple yet stylish black dress robe with red detailing, and Liv picked out a dark red dress robe. They all tried on their robes, Ginny looked stunning only the sleeves needed shortened. Tyler was ruggedly handsome, despite the fact that the length of the robe was a bit too long. Liv's dress robe fit her like it was made for her. As she twirled before the mirror Harry couldn't stop himself from thinking how beautiful she looked.

After trying on their dress robes everyone tried on the plain, black school robes to make sure they fit. Ginny and Ron seemed really excited about getting new robes. Liv, Tyler, Harry and Hermione were paying for their robes when Mrs. Weasley returned.

"Are we getting a new owl too?" Ron asked.

"Not today, after all you are getting a new set of robes," Mrs. Wesley said. She paid for Ron and Ginny's new robes and the group went outside. "Where would you like to go now?" she asked as they walked down the crowded street.

"Would it be too risky to mention Fred and George's shop?" Liv whispered to Ron.

"I don't think mum would let us go," he whispered back.

"Why don't we take a break from shopping and go check on the twins," Lupin suggested. Ron and Ginny exchanged a nervous glance and watched their mother carefully for an answer.

Mrs. Weasley pursed her lips and let out a sigh she was about to say no when Lupin intervened again. "We might as well let them go, they probably shouldn't come with us. We still have to run that errand for Professor Dumbledore," Lupin said calmly Mrs. Weasley looked thoughtful, but kept her mouth shut. "Besides, it'll be a long time before Olivia and Tyler get to come to Diagon Alley again, they need the full experience."

Mrs. Weasley let out a resigned sigh, "All right they can go, just don't waste your money on any of that rubbish, and I don't want to hear a single word about their store afterwards. Understood?" she said sternly. They all nodded eagerly, except for Hermione who could care less about the twins' store. "Go on, get! Before I change my mind!"

"Thanks mum!" Ron said.

"We won't buy anything, I promise," Ginny said eagerly.

"And I'll make sure they don't," Hermione said seriously.

"Enough talk, let's go!" Harry said just as eagerly as Ginny

Ron led the way down the street toward the store, he knew his way around Diagon Alley better than the rest. "It should be right…here," he pointed to a two story building. A brightly colored sign that hung above the door read Weasley's Wizarding Wheezes. One of the store front windows was bright and cheery advertising some of their latest products while the other window was swampy and covered in mud, advertising their most famous product, the Swamp Box.

"I bet they'll be surprised to se us," Ginny said.

"Yeah, luck Professor Lupin came along today," said Ron.

"What do you think they needed to do for the order?" Harry asked as they entered the store. Harry's question was immediately forgotten when their noses were greeted with an unusual smell. Hermione wrinkled her nose in disgust and moved over to a corner of the store to stay out of the way of things. Although she must have triggered some kind of trick because a large, hairy (fake) life-like spider fell from it's web and landed in her bushy hair.

"Uh…er…H-Hermione…" Ron stuttered. He was still deathly scared of spiders.

"What?" she said, looking—and sounding—cross.

"There's a spider on your head," Harry said, hiding his smile.

"S-s-spider…_huge_ s-spider," Ron stuttered, backing slowly away from Hermione.

"What! Get it off! GET IT OFF!" she shrieked as she franticly tried to shake it off.

"Hold still Hermione," Harry said.

"Hermione, Ron relax, it's not real," Liv insisted.

"L-looks real to m-me," said Ron.

"She's right," said Tyler as he came up behind Hermione and picked the huge spider off her head, "it's fake."

Hermione was red in the face and her hair was puffed out even more than usual. She became even angrier when she heard snickers coming from behind a curtain on the back wall.

"I'll wait for you outside," Hermione said hastily.

"You guys should take it easy on her," Harry said loud enough for Fred and George to hear.

"We weren't targeting her," Fred said as he stepped out from behind the curtain with George right behind him.

"We have a bunch of tricks set up all throughout the store," said George.

"It's great, when the store is crowded and someone triggers one of the pranks the person is really embarrassed, but will most likely buy the product," said Fred.

"This is a nice little set up you've got here," Harry said as he walked along a shelf lined with jars full of innocent looking candy.

"Yeah, all the tasty little sweets are on one wall, a wall devoted entirely to dung bombs and other classic pranking items from our youth, the swamp in the window and many of our larger items in the back," said George as he looked affectionately at his surroundings. It had been their dream to open a joke shop, and with Harry's help they were able to do it.

"So Mum _actually_ let you come?" Fred asked. "How'd you manage to convince her?"

"She had business elsewhere," said Harry.

"And we promised not to buy anything," said Ron regretfully as he looked at some of the smaller items. "I'd love to use some of those products on Malfoy," he muttered wistfully.

"So you can't buy anything?" Fred said thoughtfully.

"We could always give them some free samples," George said. "They can't go back to school empty handed."

"Really?" Harry asked.

"That would be amazing!" said Ron.

"Potter? I thought I heard your voice," Lee said as he stuck his head through the curtain.

"Lee! How've you been? Enjoying your freedom?" Ron asked.

"It's been wonderful, it's great to not have to worry about Snape or Filch anymore," Lee responded. "I miss Quidditch though, the rush, the excitement…" he let out a wistfully sigh as he stared off into space.

"Getting yelled at by McGonagall," Fred added.

"What? I couldn't help it, I got caught up in the excitement," Lee said in his defense. "Does it really matter if I let a little team spirit filter through?"  
"It does when you're shouting 'Go Gryffindor, beat those stupid Slytherins!' That's more than 'a little team spirit,'" joked George.

Harry laughed, "I wonder who will replace you," Harry said remembering some of the funnier moments of Quidditch.

"I wonder who'll replace us," Fred said wistfully.

"Nobody could ever replace you two," said Ginny.

"Yeah, you guys are one of a kind," Liv said, laughing at the irony of what she had said.

"I hadn't thought of this before," Ron said suddenly.

"Hmm?" Fred asked, only half interested.

"Harry, Alicia and I are the only three left on the House team!" Ron said. "Everyone else, well _almost_ everyone graduated last year. Katie, Angelina, you two.. they're all gone!"

"Angelina was captain last year… We don't have a team captain!" Harry said. "What are we going to do?"

"We weren't supposed to tell you this, but I don't see how it'll hurt," said Fred.

"The four of us from last year along with Oliver Wood and Lee have been trying to choose which one of you will be captain," said George.

"How is Wood?" Harry asked.

"He's doing fine" said George.

"But you should have seen him when we told him about your suspension from Quidditch," said Fred.

"You were suspended too!" Harry said.

"Yeah, he called us bludgers and told us to tell you he'll come down to the school and give you a reason to be suspended if you ever do anything like that again," George said.

"He lectured us, but we uh… we tuned him out," said Fred.

"As usual," added George.

"Sow who do you think will be captain?" Ron asked eagerly.

"We're dead locked at the moment and can't decide," said Lee.

"Harry's been playing on the house team since his first year," said Fred.  
"But Ron grew up with Quidditch, and has been a fan of the sport all his life," said George.

"Let me guess, it's you two and Lee that are pulling for Ron, the girls and Oliver are pulling for Harry," Ginny said.

"No, actually it's not," George said.

"Who's voting for who then?" Ron asked.

"Sorry little brother, nice try but we can't tell you," said Fred.

"So…um any new products?" Ginny asked changing the subject.

"We've got some in development, we're testing them in the lab," said Fred.

"You have a lab?" asked Harry.

"Yeah, it's great we no longer have to work out of our bedroom at home," said George.

"It's upstairs, plenty of room and only a few explosions every now and then, but other than that…" Lee said with a shrug.

"There's also two bedrooms upstairs, very nice but not furnished much, but nice," said Fred.

"If you've got room upstairs then why don't you live here?" Liv asked.

"We did when we first left school," said George. "Mum was too mad at us to even let us anywhere near the Burrow."

"Ginny and Ron managed to soften her up and convinced Mum and Dad to talk to us. We came to an agreement and were allowed to come back," said Fred.

"We told them we didn't want Fred and George out of our lives like Percy," said Ron.

"Percy refuses to talk to us…still! Dad doesn't like us to mention him either… although Ron did receive a birthday letter…" said Ginny.

"Yeah he was still trying to convince me to not be your friend, and start studying more," Ron said to Harry, rolling his eyes.

"Even now? After Fudge admitted that Voldemort has returned?" Harry said slightly shocked.

"Percy is too stubborn to admit he was wrong," said Fred.

"Mum's even sent him letters, they always return un-opened," said George.

"What are you guys doing in here?" Hermione said as she entered the store "Honestly, does it take this long to look at a few items?"

"Sorry Granger, we've been talking," said Fred.

"Well wrap it up, we've got to go meet with your mother at the Leaky Cauldron in five minutes," Hermione said strictly, her hands on her hips for emphasis.

"All right, we're coming," said Fred

"Why?" Hermione said, looking at the twins disapprovingly.

"Because we've got to help take you all home," said George.

"Oh, right… shall we?" she said as she held open the door.

"All right, Lee we'll see you later, we've got to go take the kids home," Fred said with a laugh.

"We'll pop up tomorrow for our uh…little business meeting," George said with a wink.

They all left the store and stepped out into the street. Liv, who was walking next to George was lost in her thoughts when he started to speak.

"What did you think of our store?" George asked.

"Oh, it was wonderful! I just wish we could have bought some stuff," Liv said with a smile.

"I'll have to bring you back some other time," George said.

"Just one question…"

"What's that?"

"Is Lee living upstairs, above the store?" Liv asked.

"Yeah, his parents didn't approve of his chosen profession and he chose to leave home instead of putting up with their criticism everyday," said George. "He loves living up there, he never really had a good home life. His parents never really adjusted to him…being a wizard."

"Poor guy, doesn't he get lonely?"

"How could he? We're always popping in and out of the place, and he's great with the customers," George replied. "He's our top salesperson."

"Care to tell me about your little business meeting," Liv said with a shy smile. "I won't tell anyone, I promise," she added, moving closer to him as they walked.

"Uh…I can't…It's er…well, it's to decide on Quidditch captain," George finally said, staling at first but giving in when Liv looked up pleadingly at him. "All right, fine you win," he added, giving in completely. "We didn't want Ron to find out, he'd ask so many questions that we would probably change our minds on him and vote for Harry instead," George whispered, Liv leaned in closer so she could hear.

"So does that mean you're going for—?"

"Yeah, Oliver is almost convinced, even if Angelina isn't."

They continued talking in low whispers as everyone walked toward the Laky Cauldron. Fred was walking with Harry behind Hermione and kept making faces at the back of her head as they went, trying to make Harry laugh. And he was laughing, until he glanced over his shoulder and saw Liv watching George, listening intently and hanging on to every word he said. Harry was no longer smiling as they approached Mrs. Weasley and Professor Lupin; Mrs. Weasley wasn't smiling either.

"You're late," she said sternly.

"Now, now Molly they're only three minutes late, not to worry," Lupin said, stepping in to keep her calm. "Come on, let's head back."

Harry went first, even though he was somewhat reluctant to leave so soon. Hermione went with Mrs. Weasley, Tyler with Lupin and Fred took Ginny again.

"See ya back at the house," Liv said to her brother as she linked arms with George, a merry glint in her eyes.

Once they were gone Ron turned to Harry and whispered, "Do you think something's going on between those two?" But before Harry could answer Lupin and Mrs. Weasley returned.

"Take your things upstairs and be careful not to wrinkle your new robes!" Mrs. Weasley said as she began busying herself about the kitchen. "There's an order meeting tonight and I want you to stay upstairs. _All_ of you," she added, glaring at the twins.

"You two going to try and listen in on the meeting tonight?" Ginny asked Fred as they headed up the stairs.

"We'll try," said Fred. "Although the Imperturbable Charm on the door."

"I'm surprised they don't just give up and let you two join. You're of age and out of school," Ginny said. They were now standing in front of the door to Fred and George's room.

"We're out of school, yes. But we never graduated," said George with only the slightest hint of guilt in his voice. "What we did was immature, yes. But we _had_ to do it. Mum will never forgive us for it."

"At least you're still with us, unlike Percy…" Ginny said.

"We could never do something like that, we'd miss you and ickle Ronikins too much," Fred said with a cheery grin.

Before Ginny could comment Fred and George disappeared into their room and it wasn't long before odd noises and explosions were coming from it.


End file.
